The Dancing Blades
by kvnplna
Summary: To her, humans were more disgusting than titans. She had once lived in confines of the underground world inside the walls. Innocence tainted without a choice till one day a man rescued her from hell and took her under his wing. She now dons the green cloak with silver wings around her neck. (Rated M for violence, language and adult suggested themes)
1. Prologue

**Author's Note:** The time line of this story was before Eren and the others joined the military, so no Colossal Titan, Eren Titan form or Female Titan in the story. I do not own Shingeki no Kyojin or its characters.

**Some other notes:** Letter in italicizes format are for thoughts and flashback of the characters. (ex. _"Blah blah blah"_)

* * *

**Prologue**

The smell of sweat lingered in her nose.

It was disgusting.

All she wanted was a normal life yet how could she have one if even outside this underground world she was forced upon was also in chaos?

Although in her opinion, she felt humans were more disgusting than titans.

"In the name of the king, you are to open this door now! If you do not comply we are forced to take actions deemed fit for the situation!"

Those words echoed in her ears as she stood there aimlessly. People inside the shady room who were previously drinking, gambling, and enjoying their sexual desires with each other were now screaming and making a run for it.

To her, everything was like watching an old movie. Her surroundings turned black and white as she stood there, at the very center of the room.

Soldiers, wearing uniforms with the insignia that represented them as the Personal Guards of the King, had barged in the door; which filled the dark hazy room with faint traces of light. One by one soldiers entered the place as they reprimanded every person in sight. Some were cursing profanities while others demanded to be released.

"Let go of me! Do you not know who I am?" A man's voice shouted at one of the soldiers. "The king knows me, he will have all of your heads for dinner once he finds out about this!"

His outburst resulted to the man, now clutching his stomach in pain with his hand, brought down to all fours by the soldier, who knocked him down with the opposite end of his rifle.

"You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to speak to an attorney, and have an attorney present during any questioning. If you can not afford a lawyer, one will be provided for you at the expense of the government."

Once everyone was chained and subdued, a man with short black hair entered. His beady black eyes scanned the room as his lips were pursed into a thin line. Hands intertwined at his back, he looked at the people inside the room with a face of disgust.

"By order of the king, you are all guilty of prostitution and illegal trade of drugs. You are to be tried in court." Nile Dok, commander of the Military Police Brigade, spoke. "Take them away men."

"Yes sir!"

Nile Dok watched his men take out every person in the room. He placed a hand near his face and pinched the bridge of his nose. A look for disdain donned his facial features. Usually he and his men would be walking around the grounds of Wall Sina, drinking and laughing their asses off. But much to his displeasure his commanding officer, Darius Zackly, noticed a great rise of illegal medicine circulating within the Walls of Sina.

"I see you got everything handled well." An old voice spoke with a hint of amusement.

Nile turned around and gave an acknowledging nod. His eyes filled with intense mixture of irritation and boredom. "Pixis, Smith; fancy seeing the both of you here. Aren't you supposed to be watching your precious wall that keep our districts safe?" He looked at the old bald man. "And you being a crazy fool by giving yourself your own death sentence?" Now he turned over to the blonde towering man next to Dot Pixis.

Erwin Smith's face remained stoic despite the snappy remark while Pixis seemed to adorn his face with a kind smile.

"General sent us here to make sure the job is done. There are ten brothel houses hiding underground. He wanted to make sure every single one was taken down." Erwin said in his usual serious voice.

"Yeah, I got it all covered. You can all leave now." Nile said nonchalantly as he waved his hand lankily. He was about to walk out of the door until one of his soldiers spoke up.

"Sir, she won't move."

He whipped his head around and saw two soldiers holding a little girl by her upper arms. She stood there, head low and eyes casted vacantly to her dirty feet. Her platinum blonde hair draped past her shoulders while strands of it stuck on her face. Straps of leather latched on to her body, imitating the 3DMG they use quite often.

"Well of course she won't move! Can't you see she's terrified?" Pixis beamed. He walked towards the girl. She looked about twelve years old as she barely made it pass Pixis' hips. He bent down to be at the same eye-level as hers and gave her a wide smile. "Hello, my name is Dot Pixis. What's yours?"

The girl with glassy grey eyes slowly looked up. Her skin was white, in contrast to the dark room. She was now looking a Pixis right in his eyes though her facial expression didn't change.

"Don't you dare touch her, she is mine!"

The three commanders turned their backs around to see an old fat man looking at them with anger. Two soldiers were trying to hold the man back put he kept squirming out of their hands.

Pixis stood up from his place and walked slowly near the man. "Oh? How so?" He asked with a curious eyebrow up.

"This! I bought her and now she is mine!" The old man growled with a smirk on his face as he shoved a piece of parchment to Pixis' face.

Pixis scanned the document in silence as the two commanders walked near him to read what was written on the paper.

"Well?" The man raised an eyebrow as he watched the three men who were silent for quite some time.

Erwin took the piece of paper to his hand and looked at the man with steely eyes. "You are guilty of child prostitution and illegal trade of human beings." Within seconds the paper that once held ownership to the little girl was torn into shreds. "And with those crimes I suppose death penalty would be a deserving punishment."

Fear etched on the eyes of the man as Erwin turned his back and proceeded to walk towards the silent girl.

"Take him away." Nile said with annoyance.

"No! You cannot do that! She is mine! Terpsichore is mine, get away from her!" He shouted as four soldiers came to collect him.

Faint screams of murder was heard outside but the three men didn't seem to mind since their attention was now glued to the tiny girl in front of them.

"So, your name is Terpsichore." Pixis said gently.

No response.

"How'd you get here?"

No response.

"How old are you?"

No response.

"Are you-"

"The stupid brat won't talk, so shut up already." Nile looked at Pixis with arms crossed above his chest.

Pixis frowned slightly but still retained a kind face. He looked at Erwin and Nile for an answer on how to be able to get this girl to talk.

Nile remained quiet while Erwin inched in closer and squatted down in front of her. His facial features turned soft and he patted the girl on her head. Which resulted a flinch from the girl. Her whole body was now trembling as her pupils were now like tiny dots.

Seeing this, Erwin immediately grabbed the girl's wrist and enveloped his arms around her frail trembling body. With one hand stroking her hair he whispered, "That's enough. You are safe now. No one is going to hurt you."

Her body tensed up at the sudden touch. She began to squirm as her mouth now wide open, trying to create a scream but no voice left her. He cooed more soothing words next to her ear and it seemed to work because soon her body began to limp and tears now welled up at the corner of her eyes.

Erwin slowly parted his embrace but kept his hands on top of her shoulders. He looked at her and smiled, "Let's get out of here, what do you say Terpsichore?"

The little girl looked at him with a tear stained face. She slowly shook her head to the side.

"_Is she saying no?"_ Erwin thought in his mind.

"Hallinor…" A small raspy voice emitted from the little girl's mouth.

"What?" All three said in unison with surprise.

"Hallinor. Hallinor Bismarch."


	2. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:** To my knowledge Erwin Smith is the Commander of the Survey Corps and serving under him are four squad leaders: Hange, Mike and Levi. I really didn't know what the other captain's name was so I just decided to leave him/her to be unnamed. (Source of info: Wikipedia) I still do not own Shingeki no Kyojin or its characters.

**Some other notes:** Letter in italicizes format are for thoughts and flashback of the characters. (ex. _"Blah blah blah"_)

* * *

**Chapter 1: Hallinor Bismarch**

"At ease." Erwin's voiced boomed.

Four high-ranking officers stood in front to the Survey Corps commander who was sitting behind his large desk. Eyes glued on to the commander except for Hange Zoe whose eyes kept flittering to the side of Erwin.

"Hange."

"Hah?" Hange looked back to the commander with a confused look.

"I said, do you have anything new to report?" Erwin raised an eyebrow as her other fellow soldiers looked at her with the same look.

Her face then contorted to a wide grin as her eyes shone with much excitement, "Oh! Yes I do! And-"

"Keep it short and simple Hange." Erwin chuckled as he saw Hange's expression changed into a small disappointed frown.

"Well nothing much new about the titans since I wasn't able to get some sample from our previous mission." She said in a low voice as she crossed her arms above her chest. A small grunt escaped her mouth.

"Very well. That is all for your daily morning report." Erwin stood up as he gently fixed the papers in his hands.

"Hey commander!"

"Yes Hange?" Erwin mused as he organized his things as he was readying himself for departure.

"Who's that?" She pointed over to Erwin's right side.

Erwin then glanced to his side and let a small smile grace his lips. A girl stood there, back straight with her hands behind her back and an expressionless face. He then walked closer to the girl who was once small in his eyes.

"At ease soldier." Erwin spoke. With this, the girl placed her arms to her side and relaxed her body.

Despite it being ten years ago her height grew into a few inches but her body shaped into a figure of a woman. Her face was now different. It was more defined and dare Erwin say it, she turned out to be a real beauty. Her platinum hair that reached up to her waist was now tied up into a neat bun. Her complexion did not stray away from the color of her hair; it was white like a porcelain doll. Those grey eyes were clear and bright not like when he first saw her. Although her face graced a familiar expression of vacant and emptiness.

"This is Hallinor Bismarch, she will be serving the Survey Corps as of today." Erwin stated as he placed his hand on top of her head.

"Oh!" Hange exclaimed as she clapped her hands together. "And whose squad will she fall on to?"

"No one." Erwin simply stated. "She will be under my command. If I see she's deemed to serve your squad during a mission, I shall say so. If I say she is needed on the Special Operations squad then so be it." Erwin took a brief look at Levi whose expression remained unchanged. "Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes sir!" All four leaders responded.

"Good. Also if you are wondering, she has no rank within the Survey Corps Military division. She is under my command and only mine. That means that none of you are to give her orders unless I place her on your squad." Erwin said in addition.

"But sir, why-"

Erwin raised a hand to cut Hange off, "I have my reasons Hange. Please leave it at that."

Hange, being unsatisfied, forced herself to nod.

"That is all. You may all take your leave."

With that all four soldier gave their salute and one by one and left Erwin's office.

* * *

"Hallinor Bismarch huh?" Hange wondered out loud as she tapped her spoon on her chin. "What do you think Mike?" She turned over to the tall blonde man seated next to her.

He shrugged, "I couldn't really tell. She had a weird scent, refreshing but weird."

"Levi?" Hange prodded the short man in front of her.

With a cup filled with tea intertwined around his fingers, he looked at Hange with boredom. Shrugging a little to not seem a least bit rude, he continued on to drink his morning tea.

"Argh!" She wrangled her hair in annoyance. Was she the only one who was curious about the girl Erwin had just introduced them to?

She decided to drop the topic for now and proceed to finishing her meal. After all, how could she work with her precious titans if she had an empty stomach?

* * *

Everything seemed to be a normal day for the Survey Corps. The senior team leader was holding training for the new recruits outside while the four leaders were discussing their new plan for their new mission in a private room.

"We should probably take this route, and avoid the titans like we use to." Mike spoke as he pointed over to the map on the table.

"But this is the fastest way!" Hange retorted as she pointed to an opposite direction on the map.

"Yes we all know that but remember our last mission? Titans were crawling over there like a herd." Mike grumbled.

"But-"

The sound of hands banging on the wooden table echoed in the room. Levi squinted his eyes, "Oi, are you just saying that because you want to fucking see one of your weirdoes?" Levi asked, well more of like stated it like a fact since he really knew the answer to his question.

There was silence from her as she scratched the back of her head with a tiny tint of red across her face. A soft embarrassed chuckle escaped her lips.

"Tch." Levi frowned. This mission was to get organic supplies and food since there has been shortage in one of the districts of Wall Maria. He knew their jobs were to reclaim land from the titans and serve to protect humanity at all cost but he also knew it was a dangerous one.

He wasn't really afraid of titans per say. He had enough confidence in himself as he had earned the title of 'Humanity's Strongest'. Levi just wasn't so keen to the thought of his comrades dying and not getting anywhere closer to winning.

"What about you? What do you think?" Hange questioned as she looked over her shoulder.

Hallinor stood there in the corner, back pressed against the wall. Her arms covered her chest and a leg crossed over the other. She looked at them, "We should take Captain Hange's route." Her voice filled the air.

"Are you crazy?" Levi glared at her. "This is a collect supplies mission, not a fucking suicide one."

"I already talked to Commander about it, Captain. He agreed with my proposal." Her voice unwavered despite the looks of her comrades gave her.

"And that is?" Mike questioned.

"To take the fastest route, get the supplies we need and then get back here." She said as she kicked herself off the wall and proceeded to walk over to the table.

"Then what about the titans?" Hange asked as she tried to keep her excitement hidden but she failed miserably to.

"Leave it to me. You all can serve as my back up, which I highly doubt I would need. As for your soldiers, leave the gathering to them." She spoke coolly.

Three eyebrows twitched in annoyance while Hange was too busy daydreaming in the background about her chancing upon an aberrant titan.

"And the Commander has so much faith in you?" Levi asked as he stood up straight, arms now crossed to his chest.

"Yes he does." She looked at the man who was just a few inches taller than her as she crossed her arms above her chest.

"Tch." He scoffed. "And what squad will you be on for this mission?"

"No ones. I'll take the lead of the group for this mission." Hallinor stated as she pointed at the map. "We will form a single file. Captain Hange and I will be stationed at the front while you and Captain Mike will be at the back."

"What?" Levi's tone rose while his eyes glared at her with irritation.

"You heard me Captain. You and your squad will be behind while Captain Hange's will be in front. The Commander has already acknowledge my plan and decided to follow it." She said with a faint smile that was almost considered as a smirk. She walked towards the door. "I expect the army of ten, including the four of you to be ready by dawn." With that she opened the door and left them.


	3. Chapter 2

**Author's Note: **I forgot to mention on my first post that Hallinor's age in the present is 23. Erwin being in his mid-forties while Levi is in his late-twenties. I still do not own Shingeki no Kyojin or its characters.

**Some other notes:** Letter in italicizes format are for thoughts and flashback of the characters. (ex. _"Blah blah blah")_

* * *

**Chapter 2: The Dancing Blades**

Hooves pounded on the dirt road and soft breaths escaped the mouths of the horses. It was a cold morning; the sun had barely seeped out of the horizon. Low groans were heard from soldiers who were fixing their 3DMGs.

"Good morning." A feminine voice rang through the sky.

All heads turned around to a small woman with silver like hair. She walked past every soldier with her eyes not even straying away from her path of line.

Murmurs soon erupted.

"That's the one I was telling you about, Commander Erwin personally trained that soldier." One whispered to the ear of the other.

"She's even called 'The Dancing Blades'." Another murmur followed.

"I heard she took do-"

"Oi, this isn't time for your petty gossips." A cold voice broke their conversations.

They turned around and saw the Special Operations Captain, on his horse, glaring down at them. Behind him were the members of his squad: Eld Jinn, Gunther Schultz, Oluo Bozado and the only female, Petra Ral.

Hallinor was now riding on her horse. She tugged the reins to her horse to turn back in order to face the army for this mission. "I'm sure your Captains have briefed you all with the plan." Her voice boomed now dominating with authority.

"We will execute this as planned and precise. You all know your roles for this mission and I expect you to all fulfill your purpose. If you have any questions you may ask your respective Captains. Am I clear?"

"Yes ma'am!" The army of ten cried in unison while performing a salute. The three captains wore different expressions; Mike had a straight face, Hange was all giddy inside and out and Levi was frowning with irritation once more.

"Well I'll see you guys later!" Hange said as she waved at them. She galloped her way to the front of the group leaving Mike and Levi at the back.

"Good morning Captain." Hallinor's voice was monotone as she gave a small nod to the woman beside her.

"Hey!" Hange greeted back with a smile.

"Please tell your troops that we are heading out now." She spoke as she gently kicked the sides of her horse to walk.

"A-ah! Yes, of course!" Hange, all flustered, turned around and said, "Let's get going men! Let's bring home some titan meat!" She shouted as she pushed a fist high in to the air. "Let's move out!"

Slowly the hooves of the horses began to move forward. Some men cheered while others had faces of fear and worry. They all knew the route they were going to use. Some were telling each other that they wished they weren't picked for this mission while others were dead silent.

At this Hallinor watched at the corner of her eye, using her peripheral view, how everyone's reaction was. A small smile tugged at one corner of her mouth. She stopped her horse by pulling the reins backwards.

"One more thing men…" She trailed off.

The wind made a strong gust, making all of their green riding cloaks flap. Her eyes glistened while the heads of every soldier now turned to her attention.

"Do not get in my way." She smiled slowly with eyes of steel peering down at the men behind her.

"That is an order."

* * *

The sun was blazing right above then. Their uniforms clung on to their sweaty bodies yet no one complained. They all knew that this was much better than encountering a titan. So far not a single titan had been spotted and you can see some faces in the group were starting to lighten up.

"So far so good." Mike whispered under his breath.

"I wouldn't count on it for too long." Levi responded quietly.

In the far off distance Levi could see that Hange was blabbering about under the scorching heat while Hallinor was simply mute to Hange's theories about titans. He gave a small grunt as beads of sweat trickled down his nape. He wasn't particularly annoyed about his sweat; it was more of the dirt and germs that now latched on to him.

"I for one think that she's a bit to full of herself, don't you agree?" Oluo scoffed as he looked at his fellow members.

Petra looked at him with a raised eyebrow, "Not really, although she does seem a bit arrogant with the way she speaks."

"Oh come on Petra! We're the Special Operations Squad. We got the highest titan kill count among all groups. She's just a new recruit who has never even been into a real battle before."

Petra only shrugged her shoulders in response.

"Really, what was that dancing blade nonsense they wer-" Then soon a roar of pain escaped his lips.

Petra looked at him with half-lidded eyes, "You really shouldn't be talking while we're riding. You've already bitten your tongue for like a hundred times. I swear it could be even higher than your titan kill count that you've always bragged about."

Gunther and Eld snickered behind the two. They were about to join when they heard Mike shout from behind.

"Quiet!" His voice boomed.

The whole troop stopped their tracks and then turned to Mike with a puzzled look. Hallinor looked back with eyes half-lidded, looking unamused while Hange was still going on about titans.

"Something's coming." He murmured.

Then gasps erupted in the air. Not too far in front, a group of titans. Four 5-Meter classes and one 7-Meter class titans were running towards the small group. Fearful screams escaped from some while others tried to steady their horses.

Gunther swiftly looked behind and said with a tone of urgency, "Your commands Captain?" Beads of sweat dripped from his forehead as he stared at the face of his stoic looking captain.

Levi looked at them and gave them a small nod while he placed his hands to the handles of his blades. Leaving the gazes of his squad, he glared at the distorted human-like figures heading their way. He was about to take off until he heard a loud voice.

"Gather up speed and stay on your course!" Hallinor shouted. "No one is to draw out their swords."

Several faces now contorted into confusion. Usually they would either out run the titans or simply kill them. It was a first for them to hear that they would run straight towards them.

Three meters, that was the distance they now had from the titans.

"Captain Hange! What are we going to do?" A soldier shouted in fear.

Hange frowned as she casted her eyes to the younger female beside her who was furiously running towards the titans with great speed. Truthfully she had seemed to like the strange girl but she wasn't too keen about her running to their death plan. Despite the fact that she was passionate about her precious titans she still didn't want any of her comrades to die.

"Captain keep them moving!" Hallinor's voice rose. "You are to lead the troop straight, just like the path we had discussed."

"Me?" Hange question as she raised a single finger, pointing to herself. "What about those?" She then now turned her finger to the herd to giants who were now one meter away.

"You shouldn't really worry Captain." A cocky voice spoke. She looked at the brunette girl next to her.

"How can I not?" Hange said breathlessly as her eyes shifted from the small girl to the five titans who were now half a meter near.

Slowly, Hallinor drew out her blades and held them tightly. It made her knuckles turn even whiter than her skin. A calm face grazed her face, eyes half-lidded as if she was not even a least bit fazed by their current situation. Her platinum hair glared against the harsh rays of the sun, making them shine bright. She then looked to the glass-eyed captain. One corner of her mouth curled up as she spoke in a whisper, which was loud enough to hear.

"Because you have me."

And with those words her 3DMG flew through the air and landed on one of the titan's collarbone, the sharp end of her gear pierced through the skin. Her body flung into the air with great speed and in a matter of seconds her blades had touched the back of the titan's neck. Crescent chunk of flesh fell on to the ground and was followed by the crash of an enormous hissing body.

The troop's eyes watched in awe as Hallinor flew through the sky. Her body gracefully twisted as she was now heading for another kill. If it weren't for the silver blades that were attached to her hands it looked almost as if she was like dancing in mid-air.

Blood splattered all around her face and uniform but it didn't seem to bother her. She was lost in her little own world. Twirling beneath the grasp of a large titan hand she quickly responded back with a slash. Dead flesh emitting smoke and a low whistle of a hiss lay before them. She had now killed three titans on her own.

Landing gracefully on the grassy field she looked up at the two remaining titans. Both were clearly not amused to the lowered amount of company they had. The 7-Meter titan raised its foot, readying it to stomp down.

A small earthquake shook the group as the heavy big foot slammed hard on the ground. Dust from the soil covered their sight. No one was quick enough to see if the small woman had been able to evade it.

"I don't see her!" Petra shouted with worry.

The large giant who looked stunned in battle slowly began to turn its head towards the group. A twisted face of malice looked at them as it slowly began to draw its face closer for him to devour them.

Then all of the soldiers' eyes widened in fear and realization that they had to fight those two now. All now brandished their blades as they mentally readied themselves for a fight until the 5-Meter collapsed to the ground and in a few seconds the face of the 7-Meter twisted in agony. No sooner it had now fallen on to the ground too, decaying as its flesh began to disappear.

The smoke cleared and in the center of the large empty bones was a small girl, covered with blood. Her whole body was smoking and little by little those red stains began to fade. Her eyes were casted upon the floor, glassy and hallow. Hallinor's stained skin soon began to look like porcelain again.

She looked up to the group and said, "Didn't I say that you should've had kept moving?"


	4. Chapter 3

**Author's Note: **I still do not own Shingeki no Kyojin or its characters.

**Some other notes: **Letter in italicizes format are for thoughts and flashback of the characters. (ex. _"Blah blah blah")_

* * *

**Chapter 3: The King's Invitation**

"I don't really fucking care Erwin!" A sharp voice disrupted the lazy morning Monday sky. "That brat may excel in using 3DMG but that doesn't mean that she can start being all cocky and risk the lives of my troops!"

Erwin sat on his chair. His elbows were propped up and resting on the smooth surface of the wooden desk in front of him. His hands were intertwined, pressing against his mouth.

"But Levi, no one got hurt in this mission. Don't you think it was rather more of a success for us, even if it was just a bit reckless?" Hange spoke up.

"Just. A. Fucking. Bit?" Levi turned to his fellow captain with glaring eyes.

"That's enough." Erwin stood up from his chair. He then turned his gaze towards the right where the topic of their conversation stood with a straight face. A small sigh escaped his lips, "I have to agree with Levi. You may all leave, I shall have a discussion with Miss Bismarch's attitude during your mission."

With that the squad leaders began to depart the room one by one. As soon as the door had been shut closed Erwin returned his gaze to the small girl.

"Hallinor, do you care to explain?" Erwin asked.

Her grey eyes then shifted to Erwin with a scowl, "What is there to explain? I practically made this mission a success."

"I know you did but that's not what I wanted to know." Erwin chuckled.

"Erwin!" She groaned. Her serious expression fading into a more relaxed one.

He raised his hands. "I know, I know. But I really did mean when I said I agreed with Levi on that one."

A small grunt exhaled from her lips as she crossed her arms.

He chuckled again as he placed his big hand over her head and gave it a little pat. "You know what I mean. True there were no casualties but what you did was reckless. You could've risked the lives of the soldiers out there."

"But I didn't!" She retorted out loud as she threw her hands up in the air in frustration.

"You could've risked your own life." Erwin said seriously with a face to match.

Hallinor casted her eyes down, a frown still evident. "You know me very well already Erwin. Titans don't scare me."

"I know." He said. "And that scares me."

A long pause of silence now enveloped the two. Hallinor still kept her eyes to the ground as Erwin sighed with his arms across his chest.

"Enough of that." Erwin broke the silence. "While you were gone the king gave me this. It was due five days ago." He reached in from the breast pocket inside his uniform's jacket. A white envelope with the emblem of the king was pulled out.

Hallinor's eyes widened, "Is it that time of the month already?" She questioned as her hands shakily took the thin piece of paper. Truthfully she already knew the answer. Slowly, her candle-like fingers cracked the wax seal of the envelope. She pulled the note inside and began to read it silently.

After a long pause, she looked up at Erwin. Dread filled her glassy eyes as she searched for a solution from the tall blonde man.

"I told him you were outside the wall for a mission. He insisted for your presence once you had come back from the mission." Erwin said in a tone that indicated he was also not too keen about it.

"Y-You are coming with me right?" Her voice shook. The girl who stood strong just a few moments ago, crumbled back into the girl he had seen ten years ago. His heart ached.

"Of course." He said calmly but his feelings inside begged to differ. "I have to report to a meeting tomorrow with the other Commanders at the palace."

A sigh of relief escaped her mouth as she placed on a weary smile.

"But, I can't be with you while you meet with the king."

And with those words her face drained out any traces of color. She looked at Erwin with her grey eyes, shaking violently. "Y-You're kidding me Erwin, right?" She mumbled with a forced chuckle. "That's not very funny!"

He frowned even more, "I'm sorry. I'll try my best to get out of it early but I can't promise you. But don't worry, I had asked Hange to accompany us tomorrow."

"What?" She contained her voice from rising. "I don't want other people there. I don't want people knowing Erwin, you know that!" Her fingers wrangled the hem of her shirt making it all crumpled.

"I know." He simply said. "Would you rather have Hange there with you or be alone?" Erwin asked as he raised a brow. Concern filled his face as he watched the girl have an internal battle in her head as she weighed down each choice.

Hallinor looked at Erwin straight to the eyes. "Fine, but tell her she is not allowed to question anything she sees."

* * *

A tiny feminine figure stood there at the horse stables. It was a cold misty morning. A look of impassiveness graced every contour of her face as she stroked the horse's nose bridge. On the outside she looked like nothing was bothering her but on the inside her head was in turmoil and her heart felt heavy with discomfort.

"Hallinor." A gruff voice beckoned for her attention.

Her body tensed up. Without giving him a glance she bowed her head low, "Yes?" She replied.

"Are you ready?" Erwin asked. He was already sitting on top of his horse. The green cloak draped around his shoulder, ready for his long journey to the innermost part of the walls.

"Yes." She said almost in a whisper.

Hallinor placed her bag on the strap that connected to the saddle of the horse. Breathing in deep she carefully ascended on the horse.

"Is Captain Hange ready too?" She quietly asked as she swung the green cloth behind her, fastening it securely around her neck.

Erwin looked to his left then to his right, "She should be here any second. I told her not to be late."

"COMMAAAANDER!" A high pitch voice rang earning two heads to snap to its source.

In a short distance they saw the brown haired captain running with one arm extended to the air, waving frantically while her other was latched onto a sleeve of another person, seemingly dragged by brute force.

"Hange! Just in time. Get your horse ready. We are to depart soon." Erwin gave a small nod. Then his eyes traveled to the other person within the vicinity. "Is there something you need, Levi?" He questioned.

His face was sketched in annoyance. Levi's eyes looked deadly enough to kill anyone who would even catch a glimpse of it. He brashly tugged his arm away from Hange and crossed it over his chest.

Brown eyes that gleamed brightly looked at the man on top of his horse. A goofy grin stretched her mouth as drool slowly dripped on one corner. "Commander, there is an experiment on going in the lab. It's almost showing promise, we could gain huge information about the titans!" Hange said in one breath.

"I see…" He trailed off, waiting for more words from the ecstatic brunette.

With hands clasped together, she began to plead. "Please, oh please may I stay Commander! I already asked Levi to replace me for this trip."

Erwin shook his head, "No, I have specifically asked for your company Hange."

Hallinor frowned but kept quiet. She had enough faith on the tall man to force Hange to come.

"But it's my duty to extract any information about them! I have to be there to see it with my own eyes!" She whined. "I asked everybody and Levi was the only one who had nothing important to do."

At this Levi scowled and made a soft grunt, "Asked? You fucking asked me what was I up to, and when I said nothing you grabbed me and fucking dragged me out here all the way from my office."

Hange nodded vigorously at Levi's words. "See! He said 'nothing'! Commander!"

"Enough!" Erwin's voice boomed. For a moment he paused in silence. His head contemplated. Today the Survey Corps had a day off from any missions outside the walls. That meant every soldier had to train and brush up on their skills while the squad leaders were free to do as the pleased.

He softly stole a glance at Hallinor who was sitting quietly on her horse. Then slowly his eyes lingered to the two captains. A sigh escaped his lips. Hange always made a big deal about everything if it was anything concerning the titans but she wouldn't fuss this much if it were nothing.

"_A step closer to human conquest or comfort for one girl who is important to me? Which is more important to humanity?" _Erwin carefully thought. He knew which was more important and he didn't like it one bit.

With a heavy heart Erwin opened his mouth, "Request granted. Levi, be ready in five minutes." Despite the shocked expression from the girl behind him, he kept his decision final.

With this Hange jumped up into the air and glee. She quickly bid her farewells and scurried off to the laboratory. Levi grunted as he walked off to gather his stuff for the trip.

Hallinor's eyes glared at the man. "What?" She spat. "What do you mean? I thought you clearly said to me that Captain Hange would be riding with us!"

"Yes, I know. But plans change." Erwin said sternly.

"No, I will not take that for a satisfying answer. I demand Captain Hange to come with us." Her voice growled in anger. Her eyebrows furiously knotted in the middle as her cheeks puffed with the hue of red.

With defying eyes Erwin snapped his head towards her, "Miss Bismarch, I am your commander. You will do as I say and accept it." Erwin shouted loudly. When she quieted down she gave a small nod. He then tore off his gaze from the silenced girl.

Hallinor's eyes stared at him widely with disbelief of what she had just heard. Her eyes slowly gazed down to the ground; she knew very well that his choice was final. Hurt tried to seep through her face but she quickly countered it by hardening her expression.

After a few moment of silent tension Levi came back with his bag. Anger still evident in his face and eyes encircled by dark creases of lines. Silently he propped his bag on his horse's saddle then after, he swiftly rode on the back of his horse.

"Good, everything set?" Erwin asked. Levi gave a short nod while Hallinor remained quiet. "Let's get going." He breathed out as he kicked the sides of his horse while the other two followed in his pursuit.

The horses galloped on the cobbled ground. From time to time Erwin would steal glances to his right where Hallinor was riding a few meters away from him.

Inside he was feeling guilty for betraying the young girl but he had to look at the bigger picture.

He was a commander; he couldn't make decisions purely out of feelings. He was taught to put the world before anything else, even before his own life.

And he knew. He knew deep inside that the world was far more important than just one singled out girl.


	5. Chapter 4

**Author's Note: **The king here is a different character from what the manga has portrayed so far. With little information about him, I decided to just make his appearance and attitude different for the sake of my story's plot. I still do not own Shingeki no Kyojin or its characters.

**Some other notes: **Letter in italicizes format are for thoughts and flashback of the characters. (ex. _"Blah blah blah")_

* * *

**Chapter 4: The King**

Military Polices scattered everywhere. Some were pretending to work while others had the audacity to drink and play card games.

The three soldiers remained quiet through out the whole journey. Despite the long travel, to Hallinor it was just like a few seconds ago she was at the Survey Corps headquarters then the next thing she knew the palace walls were slowly coming into her view.

Her hands grasped her horse's rein tighter making the red tint from her knuckles turn white. Looking around her surroundings made memories flood through her mind. She pulled her hood lower to conceal her face from the people walking around. She tried her best to remain calm but her head kept her from doing so. Hallinor's eyes slowly drifted to the Commander. He didn't utter a single word to her during the whole trip while he and Levi kept small talks about new missions and strategies.

Now standing in front of the palace gate they stopped their horses. Erwin cleared his throat to grab the attention of the soldiers lollygagging during their watch.

"Identification and purpose of being here." A voice spoke in irritation without even bothering to look up.

Erwin reached into his breast pocket and gingerly pulled out the same envelope that he had given Hallinor the other day. Giving it to the outstretched hand of the soldier he frowned. He watched as the man with a dull expression scanned the letter.

"C-Commander Erwin, sir! Captain Levi!" The soldier with now a flustered appearance frantically saluted followed by his companion. "I-I'm terribly sorry, please forgive me. We-"

Erwin raised his right hand to silence the blabbering soldier while Levi kept his scowl. "It's quite fine. I am not your superior. Just let us in and we will be on our way."

"Yes sir, right away sir!" The soldiers nodded as they scrambled to open the gates.

Signaling their horses to move forward once more, a soldier greeted brightly. "It's wonderful to see you again Miss Bismarch."

Hallinor glared at the soldier with steely eyes making him flinch in fear. To her it wasn't exactly 'wonderful' at all; it was more of like the complete opposite. Her palms began to feel cold and sweaty. She swallowed the lump in her throat.

"Welcome back Commander Erwin, Miss Bismarch." The maids lined up near the palace doors greeted with a bow. "It's nice to see you too Captain Levi."

Erwin thanked the maids while Levi gave a nod. Hallinor looked at them, they were all smiling brightly at her. Her eyes stared at them, _"What are they smiling about for?"_ Irritated and uneasy she gave a soft grunt.

"Let us help you down Miss." One maid stepped forward with an arm outstretched.

"NO!" She shrieked earning heads to fly off to her direction. "I-I mean, I can do it by myself, thank you." She mumbled.

Hands trembling she forced herself to slowly descend from her horse. Trying to calm herself with silly words like 'It's going to be fine, it'll be over soon' didn't do much help. She was too afraid to face him.

She was afraid to face the king.

* * *

"Aahh! Hallinor, my dear sweet Hallinor has finally arrived!" A voice echoed in the halls as a stubby plump middle-aged man in royal garments briskly walked down the carpeted floor.

Her body stiffened as the man inched closer and closer till he was right in front of them.

Erwin and Levi gave a bow, "My King." Erwin spoke. "Hallinor was pleased to read your invitation when she had returned from her mission."

"But of course! Of course my dear!" His voice rang with delight as he took her hand and gave it a small peck.

She tried to hide the horror in her face by gently stealing a look to Erwin. She wanted to whimper and hide behind him but she knew very well she could not do so.

"M-My King." She gave a small curtsy.

"Radiant as ever!" The king gushed. "I shall see you soon at the dining hall. I expect you have something wonderful prepared as always."

Hallinor gave him a nod.

"Splendid!" The king clapped. "Now if you excuse me gentlemen, Hallinor." He bid them a farewell then left the hall leaving the three soldiers to themselves.

Hallinor swiftly brushed the back of her hand on the fabric of her pants. She tried her best to be brave but her body betrayed her by trembling.

"Levi, would you excuse me and Miss Bismarch for a moment?" Erwin asked.

Levi looked at the blonde man. With his bored expression he simply shrugged and left the same path the king took.

The moment the doors closed Erwin briskly walked towards the quivering girl. With one hand he took her hand gently as his other made its way to her chin. He gingerly made her face him eye-to-eye.

"Calm down Hallinor." His eyes were soft. "This is just for one day. Please bare with it." He coaxed her as he now patted the top of her head.

All flustered with tears threatening to spill she whimpered, "B-But Erwin without you I just can't-"

"You can." He hushed her. "You are a brave girl, Hallinor. You can overcome this. Just for one day."

"But what if he…" She stopped, as she didn't dare to speak more of it.

"He will not, just bare with his light touches and kisses for a while. He will not touch you any more than that. Levi will be there with you, you won't be alone."

"But Erwin, he will know! He will question! He will think-"

"He will not. Levi likes to keep business to himself. I would not worry much about him." He smiled softly as he wrapped his arms around the small figure.

Soon her body had relaxed and her heartbeat had turn back into its normal pace. Her face though still did not bare a satisfied one.

"Alright." She quietly responded. "Please come back to me as soon as possible."

"I will."

* * *

"Ah, Captain! How are things around your brigade?" The king asked as he drank a big gulp from his goblet filled with expensive red wine.

"Very well. We recently have succeeded in bringing back supplies from our last mission." He responded then had a sip from the tea a maid had brought for him. He sat straight with a leg crossed over one. His green cape, removed, draped at the back of the chair.

The two men were in the dining hall, already seated at the long curved wooden table. The room was quite large and tapestries of different colors hung above the ceiling. A fancy chandelier adorned the center top of the room. Large glass pane windows invited natural light into the chamber. In front of the two men at the center, was a large red velvet curtain that hung from the ceiling and extended to the ground.

The king kept blabbering on and on about his days in the palace while the quiet captain listened.

Soon a servant appeared and stood beside the king. "Your Majesty, dinner is ready."

"Splendid! Have it taken out and served!" He clapped his hands together.

Levi looked at the king and questioned him, "Pardon me, my King, but should we not wait for Miss Bismarch to arrive?"

The king looked at Levi and as soon as he saw it was a serious question he erupted a hearty laugh from his mouth. "But Captain, Miss Bismarch is already in the room with us."

He raised an eyebrow, not fully comprehending the words of the king. But he was soon answered when the red curtains in front of him slowly parted to reveal the girl he had previously asked about.


	6. Chapter 5

**Author's Note: **I still do not own Shingeki no Kyojin or its characters.

**Some other notes: **Letter in italicizes format are for thoughts and flashback of the characters. (ex. _"Blah blah blah")_

* * *

**Chapter 5: Corde Lisse**

She stood there at the center as two pair of eyes was now watching her. One face was contorted in delight while the other had a hint of confusion.

Hallinor had removed her soldier uniform and was now replaced with fabric that showed much skin. Silver locks draped behind her shoulders, its waves curling softly. Her heart pounded wildly beneath her chest as the room grew dim and a spotlight had now focused on her. Gracefully curtsying as two white cloths began to descend from the ceiling.

"You are in for a treat Captain!" The king squealed, grabbing a turkey leg from the platter in front of him.

Levi frowned slightly, careful not to show the king. He couldn't understand what in the world was a soldier, on stage, wearing a ridiculous costume that barely hid her parts. He looked at her eyes and it wasn't that proud look he had seen her during their mission, no not at all.

It was empty.

Music began to fill the dining hall; it was soft and sad. Slowly she began to climb one white fabric and as she reached a certain height she exhaled softly and closed her eyes. With a note that was precisely distinguished to start her act rang through her ears. Slowly stretching out her hand to the audience as one leg stretched to the opposite, she began to coil around the fabric.

Hallinor's eyes slowly opened as she carefully grabbed the other cloth a few inches away from her. Twisting and turning, she wrapped the white cloths around her petite figure. And when the music rose into a crescendo she gently loosened her hold, making her spin around in mid-air.

With half opened eyes, she looked below to the two men. Wrapping one cloth around her right thigh, she gracefully came into a fetus position with one arm extended. Her body spiraled slowly with the song. And with another note she let one cloth go making her body fall into an abrupt plunge. It earned a gasp from the king then a sudden applause by those stubby fingers of his, but her act was not yet done.

Looping and contorting her body in various moves in the air made her feel a bit better despite the audience she had.

Then she wrapped her entire body around like a cocoon, making her unseen by the people watching her. As the song was starting to die down the cloths began to descend even lower, bringing the lump within the fabrics to the ground. And with the last note chiming in, the two white fabrics were loosened from the ceiling, making it slowly fall silkily to the ground, revealing Hallinor genuflected with her head down.

The king stood up from his seat and began to clap vigorously. "Wonderful! Simply magnificent!" He praised as some servants and maids present in the room clapped as well.

Levi looked at the king then back to Hallinor who was now gently rising from her kneeled down position. Her locks covered half of her face while strands tickled the sides of her arms. His eyes half-lidded, could not understand why the king was up and all excited about.

"Come! Come Hallinor, join us!" The king beckoned to the tiny girl.

And then there, Levi saw it.

A while ago, while she was up there her eyes seemed to look as if she was under a trance. He admitted it was a good performance, but what he noticed the most was that the whole time she was flying in mid-air, she had seemed peaceful.

But now, walking towards the table she was back with that face of hers.

That face filled with coldness, eyes that had emptiness.

* * *

He pushed his hand that held a golden goblet to Hallinor. "Drink my dear."

She looked down to the cup and saw red. She gave a small forced smile and politely declined. "Erwin does not allow me to drink alcohol."

The king gave a laugh, "Ah Erwin still treats you like a kid, eh? He doesn't see that you are all grown up, glowing with beauty each time I see you." He lightly patted the back of her hand.

Her body stiffened again upon the contact but it was minimal enough for the king not to notice.

"Ah what kind of dance do you call that again my dear?" He asked as he brought his own goblet near his lips.

Looking down she responded, "Corde lisse."

Setting his cup down and asking for a refill, he turned to Levi. "Ah yes, corde lisse. Beautiful dance, do you not agree Captain?"

Levi stopped drinking his tea and looked at the king who had a face swollen with pride. He cleared his throat, "Yes, it was quite beautiful." Looking at Hallinor who had her head down, eyes fixated at the elaborate meal on the table.

Chuckling echoed in the room. "My, done already? Did I miss it?" A familiar voice spoke.

Hallinor snapped her head up and looked at the tall blonde man standing a few inches next to her. A look of relief painted her face as her body relaxed.

"Erwin! How nice of you to join us. We were just praising how Hallinor had done a fantastic performance. Sit down, sit down." The king gestured for the servants to prepare another set of beautiful china for the Survey Corps commander.

A small smile formed on Erwin's face as he patted her head, ruffling her hair into a minor mess. He took a seat next to Hallinor.

The king joined in with laughter and proceeded to tell stories about his day. Erwin entertained the king with stories as well while the mute girl just sat there, not uttering a single word or phrase.

At the opposite side one person was quietly observing the three whilst finishing his third cup of tea.

* * *

They had finished eating and the King rubbed his big belly in satisfaction. His cheeks glowed in red indicated he was drunk from all the wine drinking. The sky outside was dark with a lonely moon shining down bright. "Why don't you all spend the night here? It is dark already." The king offered. One by one servants took away all the contents on the table back to the kitchen.

Erwin noticed Hallinor's ears perked up with the suggestion. He took her hand underneath the table and gave it a soft squeeze. "We would love to stay my King but as soldiers we have duties to do early in the morning."

The king simply fanned his hand with a lopsided smile on, "Ah, I know, I know. You have never once accepted my offer. Nevertheless the offer still stands till you all decide to leave." Slowly as he tried to steady himself, he lifted himself up from the chair and said, "As for me, I would like to retire now." He stifled a yawn.

All three stood up and bowed. "Thank you for spending your time with us." Erwin said.

"Of course, of course. Anything for my darling Hallinor." He turned around and walked towards the door. "Till the next time we meet."

The door creaked slowly as the king had left the room. As soon as the sound of the lock clicking was heard, Hallinor let a breath of relief out.

Erwin turned to Levi and said, "You wait here. I will go ask the servants to fetch our horses." And with Levi responding with a nod, Erwin made his way to the opposite door from which the king has just retired to.

Hallinor shifted from side to side, as she was now alone with Levi. She was waiting for one of the maids to escort her to a private room so she may change back to her uniform. From time to time she would steal glances from Levi then back to her bare feet.

"Well?" She muttered, quite anxiously as she wrangled a lock of hair.

Levi looked at her with half-lidded eyes, "Well, what?"

"Aren't you going to ask?" She spoke a little louder, her attitude of dominance coming back.

He raised a brow, "Do you want me to ask?"

She didn't answer; instead she looked at him with a frown. She wasn't angry that he didn't want to question her; in fact she was very glad about it. She didn't really want to come up with an excuse about her actions earlier.

Levi, taking his green coat from the chair, walked slowly towards the tiny girl in front of him. With a gruff expression he shoved his arm forward, gesturing for her to take a green cloak.

"What is that?" She questioned with a raised brow.

"Cover yourself till you change back."

She gently looked down at the green fabric he was holding then slowly back to him. Hallinor had the look of mistrust as she hesitantly took the fabric from his hand, careful not to make even the slightest contact with him.

After getting the cloak Levi turned around and walked towards the door. "I'll go find Erwin, he seems to be taking long. After you change you can just go outside." And with that he left her alone.

Arms wrapped around her body, she felt better being underexposed now. A gloomy smile now appeared, she was alone. She didn't really have to put a front anymore. She was feeling weary and disgusted. She could still feel the hair at the back of her neck rise as she recalled the king's sloppy kiss upon her hand and those light touches seemed to burn her skin. The worst thing was she was stuck with this and had to cope up with it since so far she was told this was the best solution.

"Miss Bismarch, your room is ready." A maid peeped through the door with a smile.

She turned her gaze to the maid. "Alright."

* * *

**Footnotes: **

1) During Hallinor's dance scene the music playing is titled, **"Hear Our Prayer"** from the anime Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicles. You can try listening to it if you aren't familiar to it. I do not own the song or the anime it came from.

2) Corde lisse is an aerial circus skill or act that involves acrobatics on a vertical hanging rope. (Source of information: Wikipedia)


	7. Chapter 6

**Author's Note: **I still do not own Shingeki no Kyojin or its characters.

**Some other notes: **Letter in italicizes format are for thoughts and flashback of the characters. (ex. _"Blah blah blah")_

* * *

**Chapter 6: Terpsichore**

Sounds of blades resounded in the isolated area. A tiny form created a haze within the tree filled training grounds. Her eyes concentrated as she readied her blades for a strike. Metal hit wood; the titan dummy now had a deep scratch behind its head.

It had been exactly one week.

This always happened. It always happened like this ever since.

Hallinor stood on the grassy ground as sweat dripped down her nape. Her chest rising up and down, she tried to steady her breath. Grey eyes looked at the other dummies with sternness and within a few second she flew back to the air swiping, cutting and slashing.

"_More, more, more."_ Her voice chanted inside her head.

As soon as the got back from their visit with the king, Hallinor quickly left to go for her room, leaving Erwin and Levi behind. One week, she had locked herself up from everyone else, including the only person she trusted, Erwin.

Erwin knew better than to force the girl to talk to him. She insisted that this was her way of recovering. Recovering from her relapse every month. It always started with her secluding herself from everyone; she would not come out of her room for three days. Next she would be found outside, gripping firmly on her blades, for three days just training till she had tire herself away.

But on the last day, she would quietly retreat back to her room, not talking to anyone else once more.

Erwin had no idea what she does on her last day but it had never failed, the next day she would be back on her own two feet as if nothing ever happened to her. When he questioned her one time all he got was a silent response with a slight shrug of her shoulders.

He had never questioned her again.

Hallinor stood upon a branch, legs threatening to collapse. Despite that fact that her body was screaming for her to stop she shoved the feeling off and continued on with her little private training.

"_Faster, harder, deeper!" _She screamed over and over again as her eyes scornfully looked at the poorly drawn titan face on a piece of wood. Her body flew around fast like a lightning bolt. As she drew nearer to the dummy she swung her body fully to the left, ready to strike. Eyes shook violently with anger, disgust and fear.

"_Don't let them touch you!" _She let out a howl when her blade touched the back of the wooden dummy and in perfect timing a loud snap rang in the air.

Her leather straps that encircled her hips and legs broke apart making her fly off into the air with no control. Descending with rapid speed, she hit the ground with great impact. She had great reflexes since she was able to wrap her arms around her head hindering her from getting a serious injury. Tumbling against the blades of grass she let out a tiny groan till her body slowed down and came into a full stop.

She laid down there, body all limp and full of cuts and developing bruises. Hallinor's eyes looked up to the evening sky with glassy eyes. Dirt and a few blades of grass stuck on her cheeks. Her hair that was previously tied up into a neat bun was now sprawled on to the floor.

Pulling herself up to sit, she checked her injuries. So far she had no broken bones but she did have a lot of cuts all over her legs and arms. A few streams of blood trickled down from her forehead but it wasn't much serious.

After hoisting herself up, she limply made her way back to the insides of the building. Ignoring all the faces that stared at her with wonder, confusion and concern, she continued on to her path with an expressionless face.

As soon as had reached a wooden door she hastily opened it and locked it behind her. Leaning against the flat surface she released a sigh, her whole body was now aching.

"No more." Her tired voice mumbled to herself.

She was now inside the ladies public bathroom. Hallinor didn't care if someone wanted to use the bathroom; there was another one on the second floor anyway. All she wanted right now was to be alone in her own thoughts.

After stripping down naked she had now submerged her body in a bathtub filled with steaming water. Her knees pressed tightly on her chest while her arms hugged her legs. Her wounds stung but she was too numb to even notice. Her eyes traveled to her waist where a small scar was barely visible. Gently touching it with her fingers, she felt the little bump. It was a long time ago, when she had gotten this scar, yet it only seemed as if it were yesterday, fresh and clear in her head. This was the final step of her recovery and she hated this part.

Closing her eyes, she had let her tired mind and body to succumb to rest.

* * *

_She stood there, her tiny self standing there as plenty of lusty eyes stared down at her. Light glared harshly against her skin. The smell of cigarettes wafted beneath her nose. She blinked her eyes to prevent her tears from falling down. Hallinor wanted to run and hide but she knew very well that if she did that, she would be punished for it._

_Fast Arabic music erupted in the atmosphere as well as cheers from grown men. She felt her feet were now slowly leaving the steady ground. She was now being hoisted up into the air. Tiny fearful eyes looked to the very back of the room and there she saw a huge bald man with a bushy beard, named Herman Collier was staring at her with a frown. She bit her tongue to hold back a cry._

_Hallinor forced her body to twist around, dancing to the music with grace. All her life she had loved dancing but she hated herself right now, she felt disgusted as hypocrisy filled her conscience. This wasn't what she wanted, but that didn't matter much anyway._

_She never got what she wanted._

_As soon as Hallinor's performance finished a roar of claps erupted but it didn't make her happy at all. She just stood there quietly as she gave a small bow. Quickly scurrying off the stage with her bare feet she made her way to the door. She was a few meters away till a rough hand touched her shoulder making her stiff._

"_Where do you think you're going?" A burly voice snarled._

_Hallinor slowly crept a fearful look at him, "I-I'm going to my room now. I finished my performance already."_

_The man who claimed her as her owner gave an eerie grin. His eyebrow rose up high, "Oh no, not this time. I have someone I'd like to introduce you too." With that he grabbed her wrists tightly and began to drag her across the poorly lit room._

_Fearful of what he might mean she swallowed the lump in her throat, whimpering slightly at the harsh grimy fingers wrapped around her tiny wrist. The taller man walked in long strides, which made Hallinor's short legs stumble at his trail. For her age, which was ten, she was quite short. When her 'master' stopped abruptly making her slam softly on his back._

"_Mister Shaw," He greeted politely with a small bow. "This is Terpsichore, as you have requested for." With that he pulled the frail girl to the front, exposing her face to the drunken man sitting on one of the couches._

"_Ah, lovely." The man with brown hair pulled back spoke with a slur. "Come, sit next to me." He patted at the cushioned fabric._

_Hallinor looked at the man beside her with pleading eyes. She searched his face for hope that he would refuse for her to mingle with the drunken older man._

"_What are you waiting for?" He growled at the child. "You heard him loud and clear, sit next to him!" Pushing her roughly at her back she stumbled forward. Hesitantly taking the seat next to him she began to wrangle the hem of her clothes. Her head hung low, avoiding any eye contact from the man._

"_Terpsichore, what an unusual name. What does that mean?" A hiccup escaped his lips as he wrapped his arm around her shoulder._

_This made her tense up and stutter, "A-Ah, i-it's. Uhm, it w-we-"_

"_She was named after a Greek muse who ruled over dance." An impatient voice answered for her._

_The man raised an eyebrow and a smile still plastered on his face, "Really? How fitting!" He said as he rubbed his hand up and down the length of her arm._

_Hallinor tried her best to conceal her body by squirming but failed to do so with the scrutinizing eyes from her 'master' and from the firm grip the man had on her. Panic was starting to rise from her face. Each touch made her skin feel like it was being scorched by fire._

_A soft chuckle filled with lusty intentions tickled her ear. His hot sticky breath whispered, "I would like a private dance from you." His slimy tongue licked the side of her face as his hand grazed her exposed belly._

_Her pupils shrunk as she bellowed a screech. Tears now spilled down to her chin as she thrashed around, hitting the man squarely on the jaw. The room became dead silent except for her screams as heads turned around to watch the commotion._

"_No! Get away! Get away from me!" She spat as she kept flailing her arms wildly and kicking her legs everywhere._

_Shocked filled the face of the man. Snapping out of his drunken state, his face now contorted to an angry one. "What the fuck?" He snapped._

_Herman, with a flustered face, apologized quickly to his customer. "I'm terribly sorry Mister Shaw." Quickly he snapped his fingers and soon three full-grown men stood beside him, encircling the deranged girl._

"_No!" She howled. "Don't touch me!" She screamed and whipped her body more wildly than before as three pairs of arms started to restrain her. Unintentionally she had hit men, some on the face, some on their chest. Grunts of pain escaped the men but continued on to bind her._

"_Hold still will 'ya?" A gruff voice shouted angrily at the girl as he had just received a smack to his shoulder. Gripping tightly on her wrists and pulling her up she screamed some more._

_Hallinor's eyes were shut tight. The rough grips from the men left nail marks embedded to her skin but she hadn't felt or noticed with all the fear she was feeling right now. She was slowly being carried back into her room. Pulling away from their grips, making her collapse to the cold floor she glared at them. "No! Move away!"_

_A loud slap cracked in the room making it dead quiet._

_Her face had stopped glaring as it now stared off to the air with a stunned expression. Her right cheek stung with a sharp pain. She slowly looked at Herman who glared at her with anger._

"_Now that I've gotten your fucking attention brat, care to explain what just happened out there?" His voice snarled with venom._

_Tears slid of her cheeks as they dropped on to the marbled floor. Her shoulders shook violently, "I-I'm sorry, I didn't mean to."_

_Herman scoffed, "Sorry doesn't cut it sweetheart. You are going back there."_

_She shuddered, fear overwhelming her again. Her head replayed the scene that had just happened a while ago. The hair behind her neck stood up as goose bumps painted her skin. "P-Please, I don't want to! Don't let him touch me, Master!" She pleaded in a shriek._

"_Cedric! Get the pouch from the side drawer of my table." He shouted as he held twitching legs of the tiny girl. "Hurry!"_

_With that, the muscular man teetered hastily to the other room. The other two men held on tightly on the arms of the girl. She began to scream. "Close her fucking mouth!" Herman hollered. His henchmen wrapped a sweaty hand over her mouth, muffling her cries._

_Cedric now entered the room with a black leather pouch around his stubby fingers. "Quickly! Give it to me." The leader stretched out one arm as beads of sweat trickled down his face._

_He tossed the black pouch into the hands of his boss and watched him struggle to open the zipper as his other hand was restraining the girl from kicking his face. "Lie her down!"_

_Two men pulled her body backwards bringing her hands above her head. Hallinor groaned at the sudden impact as her head hit the floor. Her screams echoed louder despite the hand resting on top. Her hair spilled all over the floor and her face was now slightly bruised from the slap she had received earlier._

_Herman looked at her with a sadistic smile, "Hush now. I'm just merely giving you something to help you relax." Intertwined around his fingers was a small injection filled with clear liquid. He roughly pulled the waistline of her skirt down revealing her hips. He raised the injection above her skin with a small cackle._

_The needle pierced through her skin, this resulted her to jerk making her skin tear up a little. Blood trickled from the small wound on her hip._

"_Hold her still you stupid buffoons!" He shouted as he now pressed down the injection. The clear liquid began to disappear into the blood stream of the little girl. Slowly her wild body began to calm down till it began to be limp. Her screams died down while her pupils began to dilate._

_Hesitantly the men began to release their grasps on her. She was lying still on the floor, eyes fixated on the ceiling. Herman wiped the sweat from his forehead and looked at the three men. "Get her up."_

_Scurrying to pull the drugged out girl, they all looked discreetly towards each other. For a second you would have thought they had felt bad for the poor girl but it wasn't quite so. They were all scared for themselves because they knew what they had done could get them jailed._

_Barely standing on her own feet, the bearded man cupped her chin roughly. "Now you are going out there, entertain Mister Shaw, get touched, and like it!" Swiping his fingers away he nodded to his men for them to take her back outside._

_Hallinor couldn't move a muscle. She tried to remove those hands restraining her but not one limb followed her plea. Inside she was panicking as the man from a few moments ago came back to her view._

"_Oh, what it this?" The man spat with reddened cheeks._

"_We apologize again sir, this will not happen again." One man spoke as they pushed her limp body towards the man._

_Her body fell forward onto the man's lap. Seeing this, Shaw felt much pleasure at the submissive little girl now in front of him. "Now that's more like it." He purred in delight as he propped her into a sitting position on his lap. With that the three men left while closing the curtains to give them privacy._

_Hallinor's head limply rested under the man's chin. She could feel his breath, rapid with excitement fanning her skin. She saw his arms snake around her waist._

"_My silent little lamb, tell me do you like this?" He teased her as his finger danced upon her belly._

_Her head screamed a defying no but she couldn't even open her mouth to say. 'Please let me go.' She thought in her head as her whole body felt cold._

"_Oh no answer? I'll take that as a yes." He murmured against her ear. Soon he began to kiss the arch of her neck down to her shoulder blades. "I just love young little girls. Their innocence makes me so aroused." He chuckled._

"_Terpsichore let me make you feel good." His tongue rolled in a slur. Slowly his hands traveled up, towards the thin piece of fabric that covered her maturing chest. She could feel the burning eyes of lust staring at her. She wanted to cry but the drug inside of her prevented that from happening._

_Hands roamed around her disgustingly. She wanted this to stop but no one would save her. Hallinor was condemned to this life and all she could do right now was sit there quietly._

_Quiet like an obedient little lamb._

* * *

_Herman had promised her that he would not drug her again but she knew all those words meant nothing. After that incident a lot of customers had requested for her. On some days she would be quiet and accept the touches but on other days she would thrash around, disobeying. This resulted for Herman giving her shots on those days._

_Growing more restless those shots turned into every week till it turned into everyday._

_Lying lifeless and broken on her small bed, she stared at the wall in front of her. Her grey eyes turned dull and empty after each passing day. She was starting to hate dancing._

_Pretending to be asleep as she listened quietly to the conversation her 'master' was having with one of his henchmen._

"_I don't really mean to question you boss but don't you think we should start selling her body to customers now? We would earn a lot of money from her if she danced and entertain customers privately."_

_A sigh escaped the room, "Do you honestly take me for a stupid man Cedric?" A voice snarled._

_Carefully a voice responded, "N-No! Of course not boss. I was just thinking-"_

"_Think! Highly a impossible feat for you." He insulted. "Right now she is our only dancer people would pay a lot to see. Making her fuck customers would ruin her body."_

"_Isn't she old enough to do that by now?"_

_He looked at his companion with a gleam of malice. "Precisely thirteen tomorrow, how I had waited for this day. After her performance she will be fucked by Shaw." He let out a sinister laugh, proud of himself._

"_I'm going to be filthy rich!"_

* * *

_Hallinor looked at the two injections resting on the wooden table inside her room. Herman explained to her that right after her performance he would give her two shots just in case she tried anything funny. She no longer disobeyed, she no longer fought, and she no longer cared. She was already dead._

_Her body seemed to still have the symptoms of being drugged out._

"_Terpsichore, you're up next!" A prostitute called out to her from the doorway. She looked at her with empty eyes and gave a simple nod._

_Walking outside slowly, she made her way towards the stage. After this, right after the show she would be robbed out of everything. She had no more dignity left for her to protect._

_Music began to play, slow and sad. She danced in mid-air, relishing her last moments of her life. She could hear the crowd exhaling, enchanted by her movements. Hallinor wished she could stop time. Pause it at this very second where she was doing what she does best._

_But time never stopped for anyone and certainly it would not stop for her._

_She could feel her body now descending to the ground, music dying down into a hush tone. She closed her eyes, waiting for her fate. She could already hear Shaw's footsteps coming close to her, taking her away into her quarters to filthy her._

_She waited with a fast beating heart._

_She asked for a miracle, she prayed long and hard._

_And then, the miracle came._

"_In the name of the king, you are to open this door now! If you do not comply we are forced to take actions deemed fit for the situation!"_

* * *

**Footnotes: **

1) Terpsichore was one of the nine muses in Greek mythology. She ruled over ballet and dramatic chorus. (Source of information: Wikipedia)

2) The drug Herman gave her is called Rohypnol. It acts as a sedative, muscle relaxant, hypnotic, and antidepressant. It is sometimes known as the "Date Rape Drug".


	8. Chapter 7

**Author's Note: **I still do not own Shingeki no Kyojin or its characters.

**Some other notes: **Letter in italicizes format are for thoughts and flashback of the characters. (ex. _"Blah blah blah")_

* * *

**Chapter 7: A Selfish Decision**

She was standing in Erwin's room, face pulled into a blank one. She was back to herself again. Erwin sighed as he tried to continue on with the morning meeting with his four captains.

"Our mission remains the same with our previous ones. We are to reclaim what is ours." He spoke in seriousness as he eyed each captain now saluting in front of him.

"Yes sir!"

After dismissing them Erwin turned to walk near Hallinor. He watched her steely grey eyes staring back at him. "How are you?" He asked.

"Fine." Short and abrupt, she answered back.

"I didn't see you for a week." He pressed on, striking any conversation with her.

"I know."

Erwin sighed, she was back all right, back to that expression he hated. Every time, before they would visit the king he was able to make Hallinor slowly come out of her shell but every time, every single time she would hide back inside her own world after seeing the king. It was always like this and he couldn't help but feel frustrated. Frustrated at the younger girl in front of him and frustrated at himself.

"You're not coming with us during the mission. I want you to stay here and get some rest." He said as he eyed the scratches across her face.

Her grey eyes stared at him angrily, "No! You can't do that. I'm perfectly fine Erwin, I can go!"

He glared, "Are you really okay? This always happens. You are no where near the lines of 'perfectly fine'."

She growled. "You can't stop me from going Erwin, you know that." Her voice threatened.

They stared hard at each other for a long period of time. Erwin had his arms crossed over his chest while Hallinor had her fists curled into tight balls.

Not taking the silence any longer, Erwin spoke. "Fine, do whatever you want."

"Great." She responded as she now walked briskly to the door. Placing her hand on the doorknob and turning it slightly she was stopped by Erwin.

"You will be under Hange's squad."

Her head whipped back and stared at the man with wide eyes. "But-"

"Dismissed soldier. You may take your leave."

* * *

"Hallinor don't!" Hange shouted with one arm out stretched. "It's too dangerous."

She didn't heed the warning.

Hallinor zoomed into the forest alone. She was angry, very angry. She hated how Erwin still treated her like a little kid.

In this mission, Erwin had decided to put her in Hange's squad, quite ridiculous if you had asked for her opinion. No matter what Erwin said she always find her own little way to disobey him. She was growing irritated.

Now, titans were pursuing them. It wasn't just because of mere dumb luck, on no, Hallinor being stubborn decided to stray from her group. In her lone walk she had stumbled upon ten titans. Readying her blades she jumped right into battle, slashing through chucks of meat. Swift and precise she didn't miss a beat.

If it was she alone, she would have taken down all of those monsters but Hange apparently had told her commander about Hallinor taking off on her own. Of course Erwin could not turn an ear away and decide to think what would have been best for his brigade. He chose to be selfish.

He chose Hallinor.

As she had neared her supposedly eighth kill a loud cry rang through her ear, distracting her, which made her crash into a nearby tree. Quickly getting back on her feet she turned her head to its source.

She saw Erwin and a trail of men coming to her aid that she knew she didn't need. Not too far behind were Hange and her squad. She cursed under her breath. She knew Erwin would be angry with her.

She glared at the tall blonde man who now landed on the branch next to her. "I told you to stay with Hange." He said with a hint of anger in his voice.

"And you honestly believed I would do so?" Hallinor challenged.

Erwin looked at her, face contorted with frustration and anger. "You foolish girl! You have risked the lives of my men for your own selfish wants. What are you trying to prove?"

In the background screams of agony and help echoed in the deep forest. After all the noise they had produced it had now attracted a large number of titans. One by one the titans had reduced the number of people in Erwin's group. Some had retreated because they had received injuries while some were in too much shock after seeing their comrades being eaten.

The blonde man glared at the smaller girl. "We will talk later." His voice was low and dangerous. He sprang off into the air, killing titans along the way.

Hallinor stood there with her blades still latched on her hands. Roughly punching the bark of the tree, she glared at the figure of the man slowly disappear towards the group of monsters. Blood trickled down her knuckled as few splinters embedded on her skin.

She clenched her teeth and growled, "I hate you Erwin!"

* * *

A sharp sound ripped through the office. Hallinor sat on the floor, hair disarrayed all over her face. She had a look of anger and hurt. One hand let her fingers graze upon the swelling cheek.

"Why does it always have to be like this?" Erwin exasperatedly asked.

"I am not a child anymore Erwin! I can handle things on my own!" She shouted as she casted her eyes towards the towering man in front of her.

"Not a child? You sure do act like one and the way you handle things, sacrificing a great loss at the expense of my soldiers."

"It's not my fault, you know that."

"Not yours? Then who is it then? The king? Herman? Whose is it Hallinor?"

She closed her mouth with eyes now darting for the floor. Her fists were clenched so tightly that her nails had already embedded on her skin. Slowly she felt the other person kneeling down. Rough yet gentle hands cupped her other cheek. She was now looking at those same blue eyes that save her ten years ago.

"I just worry for you." He said in a whisper as he rested his forehead on hers. "I just can't bare the thought of losing you."

She remained quiet, a slight hint of guilt forming her in body. Gently, she felt his hands grasping hers and pulling her up to stand once more. Wrapping her arms around her petite frame she looked to her side. "I'm sorry." She mumbled.

Erwin gave a small smile of relief. "I'm sorry too, for hitting you." He received a small nod as a response.

"May I please be excuse?" She asked.

He gently caressed the length of her arm, eyes looking at her softly. "Alright. Get some rest. Tomorrow morning I expect you to be here for the morning meeting."

"Yes Erwin." She quietly responded, wrapping her arms around the strong waist of the man. "I'll see you tomorrow." And with that she released her grasp from him and turned to leave. Casting one last look with a small smile she opened the door and took her leave.

Erwin sighed as he walked towards his desk. He leaned forward, resting the palms against the wooden surface. His head bowed while his eyes shook violently with fear. Bringing on hand towards his face, scrunching up the bangs that had separated from his neat hair.

"What am I going to do with you?"

* * *

Her back was resting upon the door. She bit her lower lip, as her eyes were half-lidded. Her emotions threatened for tears to seep out. The only person she had cared for was getting hurt and the reason was no other than her.

She cursed silently at herself as she closed her eyes shut. The last thing she wanted to do what hurt the very man who had saved her but at the same time she couldn't help it if she was too stubborn to follow his commands which involved her working with creatures she had despised for so long.

A sound interrupted her thoughts. She looked up and saw a small man, a few inches taller than her, standing in front of her. Hallinor's face contorted to a hostile one.

Bored eyes looked at her in contrast to her foul expression. Unfazed he spoke, "Commander Erwin called for me."

Hallinor growled as she pushed herself away from the door. Swiftly passing by Levi with her nose high up in the air. His eyes followed the direction of the girl till she was out of his sight. Without giving much of a thought he raised his fist rapping lightly on the door.

There was a short pause then a manly voice spoke,

"Come in."


	9. Chapter 8

**Author's Note: **I still do not own Shingeki no Kyojin or its characters.

**Some other notes: **Letter in italicizes format are for thoughts and flashback of the characters. (ex. _"Blah blah blah")_

* * *

**Chapter 8: Erwin's Request**

"I don't understand what you are trying to say to me Erwin." Levi said. He was sitting on one of the chairs displayed in Erwin's room. One arm was resting on the back of the chair lazily while his leg crossed over the other one.

"I want you to train her, privately. Teach her how to work in teams. Work with other people without giving a fit." Erwin repeated with a serious look.

The black haired man looked at Erwin with his sharp eyes. "Are you fucking serious?" He spoke roughly. Despite the fact Erwin was his superior he was also a friend. Only Levi had the guts to talk to Erwin frank and openly. "I'm the least person you know who works well with other people."

Arms crossing around his lean chest he closed his tired eyes. "Why not you or Hange?"

Erwin shook his head. "No Levi. You saw her during our visit to the king. I know you didn't ask but I'm pretty sure you know that she doesn't like to be touched by others except me."

He kept quiet, waiting for Erwin to continue. "Hange would badger her into telling her why she hates it and most likely not keep it a secret. Also it would be useless since Hange is a girl." Erwin explained while sitting on his chair. Placing his fingers at the bridge of his nose he slowly began to massage it.

"So you want me," He paused while raising a brow, "To touch her?"

Erwin looked at Levi, alarmed while a red streak ran across his face. "Not like that!"

The shorter man grunted. "Then like what Erwin?"

The older man stood up, hands now resting on top of his desk. "Just show her that there is no harm with working with other people. Show her touches are just merely touches, nothing more than that!" He said as he eyed the captain. His eyes then turned icy blue, if looks could kill. "If you touch her in anyway I do not like, I would personally drop you into the mouths of those titans." He warned with venom.

Levi leaned his head to the side, eyes watching every nook and cranny of his superior's face. "I highly doubt that." He replied.

Silence filled the room. One was seated on the chair while the other stood there, both quiet. Grey eyes stared at blue. The moonlight outside seeped in from the small window in the corner. Wind passed through, making the translucent curtains dance. The air was fresh and cold as it touched Levi's skin. Not taking the silence any longer he spoke up,

"Fine." He breathed out. "I'm only agreeing for humanity's sake. I've seen her take those monsters down."

Erwin nodded, satisfied. "Good. I'm leaving it to you Levi."

The captain stood up and said, "I never thought you would be a man who interests themselves with women like that."

A blonde brow rose up, a look of confusion gracing his features. "I don't get what you are implying Levi."

Holding his hands up, he spoke. "I respect your own decisions Erwin but isn't she a bit too young for your taste?"

Flustered with red Erwin looked at Levi as if he had said something utterly scandalous. "W-We aren't anything like that!" The usually composed commander replied, stuttering.

Levi, enjoying how flustered his commander, was curving his mouth into a small smirk. It was rare for him to see Erwin all worked up with a beet red face, just like how rare it was to see a smile on his own face.

"You got it all wrong!" Erwin sighed through his lips, sitting back down on his chair. Placing his hand once more to his face to shield his embarrassment. "I'm her father."

This took Levi by surprise but his face didn't show any signs. He simply replied with an 'oh?'

"Adoptive father." Erwin corrected himself. Peeking through his fingers with a smile. "Although I'm more of like a brother than father to her. She just loves to disobey me." His voice spoke lovingly of the girl.

The short captain stayed silent.

"That's why I need your help Levi." Erwin casted his gaze down as his fingers intertwined with each other.

"I need you to help her."

* * *

Levi walked briskly around the silent corridors of the old castle like structure. He was silently cursing under his breath. He had already an entire squad under his nose now Erwin wants to add a girl to his problems? He would have laughed out in irony but that would have been unlike him if he did so.

Grumbling as he took an abrupt left turn towards a hall with five doors lined up next to each other. Passing the first door, which was his room and also his private office, he continued on. Upon reaching the end of the corridor he stopped in front of the door, giving it a glare.

Without considering how late it was he barged in the door without even bothering to knock. Inside he saw a petite girl sitting near at the ledge of the window, looking out to the night sky. Now she was looking at him, glaring and confused at the same time.

Slamming the door shut behind him he walked towards the girl. He saw her reaction, she brought her legs up towards her body, curling into a small ball but her expression remained the same.

"What are you doing here?" Venom dripped at every syllable that rolled off her tongue. "Get out."

Rolling his eyes he placed his right fist to his heart while the other placed on his back. "Commander Erwin wanted me to check up on you."

She squinted her eyes, studying the small frame in front of her. "He told you that?"

Levi rolled his eyes once more, this time bringing his one arm down to his side while the other rested on his hip. "Do I really have to repeat that because you didn't hear or are you just stupid enough not to fucking understand?"

A frown developed onto her features. She slid down from the windowsill gracefully, her hair trailing down like silk. She walked passed him, towards the large mahogany cabinet from the opposite side of the room. Now behind the captain, she trailed her eyes from his head to his toe.

Ignoring Levi's remark she spoke. "Well since Commander has seemed to make you our little messenger would you be a dear and tell him my message?" She spoke calmly as she had emphasized the word 'little'. Her long fingers wrapped around the cabinet's handles, giving it a small tug to open it.

"And that is?" Levi responded with his eyebrows twitching.

A smile graced her red lips as she looked down. "Tell him I do not need men bothering me in the middle of the night. Whatever plans he has come up with you, I do not want to be a part of it." Her heels clicked onto the cobble floor as she walked to Levi's position. She stopped a few feet in front of him. A green fabric rested on her hands.

Her grey eyes looked dully at his. "That is all Captain. You may leave." She said as she shoved the green cloak to Levi's chest.

Wrapping his fingers against the soft fabric, he glared at the girl. Turning his heels he began to exit the room, slamming the door once more behind him as he muttered curses.

Hallinor released a breath as she held her trembling hand to hold still. Even if she hadn't directly touched the man she still shuddered at the very thought. Turning around to walk to her bed, she sighed. As she let her body fall on to the soft mattress. She covered her eyes with one of her arms.

She mumbled to herself quietly,

"What in the world are you up to Erwin?"

* * *

"Another dress?" A gruff voice asked as he peered down her shoulder.

A soft nod answered his question as she raised the white fabric in the air with her outstretched arms. "His tenth dress for this year." She then took the letter on the table and read it quietly.

"Tomorrow." Erwin answered bluntly, not needing to ask what was in the letter.

Hallinor placed the letter down and looked up to Erwin. "He requested me to wear this dress tomorrow when I see him." She could feel her mouth quivering. How fast a month has passed from her last visit. A soft sigh flowed out of her mouth as she buried her hands to her face. "I don't want to go Erwin." She moaned.

"You know you have to Hallinor." Erwin cooed softly as he made his way towards the girl. Sitting beside her, he twiddled his thumbs. Her back was hunched as he could hear her deep in takes of breath.

"That's why I said, I don't." Hallinor looked up, throwing her arms up in the air. With one swift motion she pushed body backwards, falling on the soft mattress with a dull sound. Her eyes blinked as she stared to the ceiling.

The blonde man sat there, still twiddling his thumbs. From time to time he would steal glances over to the opened doorway of Hallinor's room.

"Oh for the love of God Erwin, just tell me what's in your mind!" He stiffened when he heard an impatient voice spoke. Slowly turning his head, he gave her a forced smile as he remembered his talk with a certain Captain.

"_And I suppose you want me to tell her this after this talk?" Levi asked with arms crossed._

_Erwin looked up, distraught. "No! She would be upset. Let me be the one to tell her. For now I just want you to check up on her."_

He smiled grimly at his own thoughts. After that talk, he had tried to open the topic to Hallinor countless times yet he always seemed to chicken out at the very end. Massaging his temples he sighed in great awe how this little girl had contradicted all of his life's beliefs. Imagine him, Erwin Smith, Commander of the Survey Corps, frightened of a little girl. It was probably the hardest thing to imagine.

"Captain Levi and I had a discussion." He started. Hearing no sounds of protest from the girl he continued on. "We were talking about a private training that he would be in charge of." Sweat slid down from his temple to his jaw.

Hallinor let out a small giggle as she turned her head to look at the man towering next to her. Still lying down, she stretched out her body. "That little pipsqueak? Private training, Erwin wouldn't it be too much for him? Why are you telling me this anyway?"

Erwin stiffened at her words. He had asked Levi to wait by the door till he had called for him to enter. Unbeknownst to Hallinor, Levi heard every single word she had just uttered. The said captain was resting his back to the wall with arms crossed. His eyebrows twitched as he waited for Erwin's response.

"Well I'm telling you this because-"

Hallinor spoke up, cutting off the tall man. "Because you think he'd come short as a trainer." Snorting loudly at her emphasize of the word 'short'.

"You talk big for a fucking pipsqueak as well." Icy words filled her ears. Hallinor sat up as she now stared at the captain she had been mocking a few moments ago. Erwin slapped his hand upon his forehead with a look of weariness. This wasn't how it was suppose to go.

Levi strutted towards the girl with fuming anger. He didn't enjoy being laughed about, especially about his stature. His grey eyes dead set on to the shocked girl.

"What the hell are you doing here?" She rose up to her two feet. She looked up at the slightly taller captain in front. "You have a nasty habit in barging in people's room without their approval."

The corners of Levi's mouth twitched. "Oh haven't you heard? I can do what ever I want with you, after all Erwin has placed me in charge of you."

Hallinor blinked, her mind processed each syllable the captain had spoken and when it dawned onto her, she swiftly turned her neck towards the commander. "What is he talking about Erwin?" She asked with a voice rising in anger.

Sighing, Erwin stood up as well. "I asked Levi to be in charge of your private training."

"Private training for what?" She spat with a menacing glare.

"Private training to teach you not to be a fucking brat." Levi continued on for Erwin. Hallinor and Levi began their little stare off as Erwin groaned, slapping his forehead again.

His great plan of subtlety breaking the news to Hallinor crumbled as he now watched the two individuals kill each other with glares and snarls. Slumping his shoulders in defeat he began to walk off to the door.

"Where do you think you're going Erwin? You haven't explained to me what obnoxious plans you had with this shorty!" Hallinor angrily said with one finger pointed accusingly as she peeled her gaze away from the captain.

"Maybe I should teach you some respect for our first training." Levi drawled with venom.

"Maybe you should leave!" Hallinor snapped her gaze back at him.

Erwin sighed once more as he quietly closed the door, leaving the two to exhaust themselves with their word spar. Massaging his temples as he heard the muffled banters from behind he contemplated whether he made the right choice.

This was just the beginning. He knew of that for sure. Sooner or later either of the two would be blabbering and complain about their concern about one another. He wasn't going to get any peace from the two.

He began to question himself.

"Am I a masochist?"

* * *

"Un-fucking-believable!" Levi stormed in the dining hall with water soaking his hair and upper uniform. Grumbles of profanities echoed as Oluo came near to the seething captain and asked what had happened.

This earned him a glare, scary enough to make a grown man soil his pants. Petra slowly came to pull away the stunned Oluo away from the irritated captain who headed straight for the commander sitting behind one table, sipping in his cup of coffee.

Erwin placed his gaze up and raised a brow. "What happened to you?"

Levi's eyebrows met furiously in the middle. Dark lines seemed to have increased the last time Erwin had seen the captain. "Why don't you fucking ask her?" He shouted with a finger pointing to his side. Then after he stormed off into the doorway, heading back to his quarters.

A girl with pursed lips entered the hall. Her half-lidded eyes looked at Erwin's blue eyes with boredom.

"What?" Hallinor lazily said as she walked over to make herself some tea. "He was so red, I decided to help him by cooling him off a bit."

Silence echoed in the room, as the other soldiers didn't dare to utter any sound. Levi already frightened the whole lot of them; they didn't dare anger the girl who could actually defy Levi.

Erwin blinked and soon a roar of laughter escaped his lips. Never in his life has he seen Levi so worked up. For a second, he had enjoyed the actual thought of Hallinor splashing water all over the captain's head.

In his head he thought maybe he was a masochist after all.


	10. Chapter 9

**Author's Note: **I still do not own Shingeki no Kyojin or its characters.

**Some other notes: **Letter in italicizes format are for thoughts and flashback of the characters. (ex. _"Blah blah blah")_

* * *

**Chapter 9: Filth**

Birds chirped above the afternoon sky. Erwin gazed at the two figures mumbling about behind him. They were on their way to the Walls of Sina for their monthly visitation with the king. He could see that Hallinor was struggling as she sat sidesaddle on her horse.

"Would you stop fidgeting?" Levi snarled.

She glared at him. "Would you shut up?" She countered back as she tugged the hem of the white fabric that kept riding up her thighs. Even though she was wearing her green cloak over the dress she felt the need to tug and pull the dress to cover her exposed skin.

Erwin smiled to himself. _"That's ten for Hallinor, four for Levi."_ Duration of the whole trip Erwin had kept score on who got the last say with the little arguments they had and so far Hallinor was in the lead.

Levi rolled his eyes as he pulled back the reins of the horse making it stop. Maids came to their sides and greeted them with a curtsy.

"Miss Bismarch, how wonderful to see you again." One maid smiled gently as she offered a hand up to Hallinor.

Grumbling she reluctantly placed her hand on the other. With one swift movement she slid down her horse. Patting off the invisible dirt from her dress, her movement nice and slow.

"Are you quite done?" Levi tapped his foot on the floor impatiently.

"No, are you quite done being a prick?" She snapped. The maids around looked uncomfortable as the two glared on to each other.

Erwin held on to the shoulder of each and sighed. "Enough. In case the both of you are forgetting we are meeting the king today."

Hallinor stiffened as Levi crossed his arms. In her mind she had completely forgotten why they were here. After all her clever comebacks and insulting words to the captain she hadn't noticed how fast their journey to the inner walls was.

"Hallinor!" A tiny voice echoed from the distance. She questioned herself if she dared to even turn around to see the source of the tiny footsteps. She could feel her breath becoming short and rapid as the sound became louder behind her.

The plump man who was the king came to a stop. "Oh my darling seems shy today." He mused. "Turn around so I can see your face my dear."

Slowly Hallinor turned her body to face him. Her arms rose up to grab hold of the edge of her riding hood. Carefully pulling it back she revealed her long silver locks. A small forced smile crept at the corner of her mouth as she gave a small bow. "Good afternoon, my King."

Taking her hand he stroked the back of it as a smile plastered on his face. Seemingly pleased with the attention he had already gotten from her he turned his head to look at Erwin. "Has she prepared something fantastic for as usual?"

Erwin smiled. "Of course she does."

With that the king nodded with glee, "Then I shall have the servants ready the dining hall." Turning his heel he ran off to the insides on the palace followed by the maids on his trail.

In the corner of Erwin's eye he saw the trembling body of the little girl. She was roughly wiping her hand with her cloak, which made her hand burn red due to the friction. Whimpers of fear hitched from her throat.

"Hallinor calm down." Erwin spoke. "You have-"

"Oi, man up. He didn't do anything bad to you." Levi said as he had cut off his commander.

Without even bothering to listen she kept on wiping her hand roughly. Patches of red grew bigger on her skin, threatening to break out into a wound.

"Hey! Didn't you fucking hear what I just said?" Levi snapped as he marched towards the girl. In the background he could hear Erwin telling him to stop but decided to tune him out for the time being. Roughly he grasped her wrist with his hand and pulled it away making her spin to face him. His eyes glared on to her frightened face. "Listen to me when I say-"

Levi stopped talking when he was rudely interrupted by a long high-pitched scream. Her face contorted into a repulsive gaze as she violently pulled her arm away from his touch. "Let go!"

"Don't let him touch me, Erwin!" She moaned as tears started to well up in the corner of her eyes.

Upon this Levi released his fingers from her making her stumble a bit backwards. He watched her as she cradled her wrist as if it were broken and Erwin rushing to her side, whispering things into her ear.

Shaking his head in disapproval he turned his heels to head to the inside of the castle leaving the distraught girl to Erwin's care.

* * *

"Hallinor, why so quiet?" The king asked as he watched her fingers hold on to the fork as she poked her meat. "That was certainly a great performance from you." He gushed as his fingers tried to move slowly to Hallinor's other free hand.

"I just feel a bit unwell your Highness, that's all." She spoke softly with her eyes casted down, not even flinching the slightest upon the king's touch.

The king clicked his tongue as he now wore a face of much concern. "Why didn't you tell me Erwin? I wouldn't have let her dance."

Erwin scratched the back of his head as he looked at the smaller man at the opposite of him who was drinking his tea with eyes closed.

"Oh no, dancing made me feel better. It was more of like the journey going here which made me feel unwell." Hallinor spoke as she stole a hard glance over to Levi.

With this the king chuckled. "Still such a vigorous tongue, eh Erwin. It's so nice to see her so different from the first time I saw her."

As those words came loose in the air, Hallinor's head snapped up. She fidgeted on her seat as her mouth clamped into a thin line.

The king placed a finger on his chin as he expressed his thought out loud. "It was almost like ten years ago wasn't it Erwin?" He eyes the blonde commander.

"Yes, ten years." Erwin spoke softly as he touched the girl's hand beneath the table. He reminded her silently that she shouldn't worry much.

"It was a good thing those horrible men had been captured already." The king mumbled to himself. "I detest such vulgar acts they had brought up-"

"May I please be excused?" Hallinor rose up from her seat, which made a high pitch screech along the process. "I-I'm feeling a bit unwell again." She gently brought her hand to her head as she waited for the king's approval.

Alarmed and concerned the king nodded vigorously as he stood up to hold onto Hallinor's limp arm. "Of course, of course my dear. Would you want me to call for a maid to escort you to a room?" He asked.

She placed her hand up and gave a small forced smile. "No, no need my King. I just wish for some air. May I please go outside for a while?"

With a small nod from the king she glanced over to Erwin who had a face of worry. She smiled at him as she carefully made her way towards the big doors. The maids opened the doors for her and she mumbled a soft thank you for politeness. Three pair of eyes watched the figure slowly fade from their sight.

With that Erwin looked back to the king with the look of displeasure. "Levi," He called for the captain's attention. "Go after Hallinor and make sure she doesn't do something reckless."

Caught off guard, Levi recomposed himself as he gave Erwin a short nod. Standing up from his seat he faced the king and gave a bow to excuse himself then after made his way to the direction she had walked a few moment ago.

When the door creaked close Erwin placed his hands on top of the table, intertwined with each other. "Your Majesty I do not mean to sound rude but we had agreed that anything about Hallinor's past would be kept confidential."

The king's face turned bright red as he became all flustered. "Oh no, you are not rude Commander. I apologize, I had gotten carried away and I had assumed that it was fine since Levi had already known." He gazed towards the other man with an apologetic face.

"It's alright. You know Hallinor, she hates talking about her past." Erwin gave a smile. "I just hope this doesn't happen again my King. I don't want Hallinor being uncomfortable and Levi knowing about it."

The king blinked. "Oh, the Captain doesn't know?" He asked.

Erwin chuckled. "Oh no, he's merely just escorting Hallinor since lately I have been too busy to be her escort."

Silently the king swallowed a lump as the blonde man next to him kept talking about things happening in the Survey Corps. Bringing his stubby finger to his lips he mumbled softly to himself,

"Oh dear."

* * *

The moonlight painted the trees around the place with a hazy glow. In the background there was a soft flow of water resounding from the large fountain in the middle of the palace gardens. She took a sharp in take of air. Her hair danced along the steady wind passing through. The boots she wore made low crunches as she stepped on to the grass. Slowly she wrapped her arms around herself as she had neared the edge of the fountain.

Sitting down as she dipped her hand to the water, she gazed softly at her reflection. Moving her hand in tiny circles, her image on the water became more and more distorted.

"That's filthy you know."

Without bothering to turn around to see whose voice it was, she remained quiet.

Levi's grey eyes stared intently at the girl's small back. He watched as her hair flowed down like a curtain whenever she had made even the slightest movement.

Turning her face to Levi without letting her hand leave the water, she spoke. "Came here to mock me again Captain?" Sarcasm dripped from her tone.

He grunted. "No, Erwin told me to babysit you for a while."

Pulling her gaze back to the fountain she scoffed, "I don't need to be watched over. Leave me alone. Just tell him I'll be back in a few minutes."

Now it was his turn for him to scoff, "You think I would follow your orders and not Erwin's? Don't be too full of yourself."

A roar of laughter erupted from her. "Commendable Captain. Highly commendable, your loyalty that is."

Levi twitched as he watched her shoulder shake violently from her sudden outburst. He was starting to let this girl get into his nerves.

She recomposed herself as she let her gaze fall again at her reflection. Scrunching up her nose she felt disgust flow through her mind. Raising her hand to the air in a tight fist that was previously submerged in the water, she paused, staring hard at herself. "You say this water is filthy, am I not mistaken Captain?" She whispered loud enough for Levi to hear. Without bothering to wait for his reply she brought her hand down to the water.

Hallinor stood up from the edge of the fountain. She carefully turned around and had a look of malice as droplets of water slid down across her face. Her dress was partially wet as her hair received the equal attention.

"Commander had told me a lot about the Survey Corps when I had persuaded him to let me join. He did mention a lot about you, Captain Levi, Humanity's Greatest Soldier." She said in a low voice as she stepped forward towards the still Captain.

Inching closer she gave an eerie grin. "He did mention something about you, something interesting." She clicked her tongue as her eye drooped down. "He said you despise filth. You despise it so much that you wouldn't even bother going near it."

A few inches she looked up to the soldier. Even though it was too close for Hallinor's comfort she seemed to not mind it so much during the present moment.

"So would you answer something for me Captain?" She fluttered her eyelashes, tickling her cheekbones softly.

Levi peered down with the same expression he had. Staring at her glassy grey eyes that were filled with mystery, he cocked an eyebrow up. "And that is?" He breathed out.

"What in the world are you doing near me?"

* * *

After their long journey back to head quarters Hallinor left in a rush. Erwin sighed as he climbed down of his steed. Scrunching his right hand into a fist he placed it on his forehead as his eyes trembled in pain. He wouldn't see her again for a week. Ever since he had seen those scared grey eyes when she was a small child he felt soft and powerless. He cherished her so much that he felt like crying whenever she did.

"Erwin." His companion disrupted his thoughts. Slowly turning his head he looked at the shorter man.

"Anything else I can do for you?" Levi asked with a platonic look.

Shaking his head from side to side he spoke, "No Levi, there's nothing you can do for me right now." He paused and gave a small smile. "You will continue the private training with her after this week. That's all, you may go now."

Nodding quietly, the captain spun his heel as he now made his way towards the castle like structure leaving the tall blonde man alone.


	11. Chapter 10

**Author's Note: **Sorry for the delay, I had to finish some school projects. I'm really grateful for all those who read and reviewed this story. I still do not own Shingeki no Kyojin or its characters.

**Some other notes: **Letter in italicizes format are for thoughts and flashback of the characters. (ex. _"Blah blah blah")_

* * *

**Chapter 10: The King's Agreement**

She was sore, sore from head to toe. Throwing her 3DMG and blades to the floor without a care that she might've damaged it, she walked to her bed with heavy feet. Plopping down her bed, she sighed. Dried trails of tears stained her face as she stared at the ceiling of her room. Her eyes fluttered. You could see dark circles traced around it as she forced them open.

"_I don't want to sleep." _She pleaded in her head. _"I don't want to see them again."_

She bit her lip as it quivered. Grasping onto the white sheets of her bed, she bit down a whimper. She chanted pleas in her head as she felt her eyes grow heavy.

If only her body could talk it would've apologized to her as it forced itself to shut down.

* * *

"_Order! Order!" Darius pounded his gavel on the wooden surface. He massaged the bridge of his nose as he waited for the cries and murmurs of the people inside the court to subside._

"_Hallinor Bismarch, age thirteen." He muttered as he read it from the piece of paper that was around his fingers. "What is the case here?"_

_The small girl had her arms cuffed to her back as she had been brought down to her knees. Her eyes searched frantically for a certain blonde man. Scared and alone she felt the intense judgmental stares of everyone in the room. Trailing her eyes toward the ceiling she felt even more watched by the paintings of men killing off one another. Despite the fact that the courthouse was lavishly big Hallinor felt suffocated._

"_She was found in one of the brothel houses we had taken down." Nile spoke up as he walked across the room._

_Darius placed his curled finger under his chin. "Yes and those trials had been over since last week. Why was she not present during it?"_

_Presenting a brown folder, Nile walked over to Darius to hand it to him. "She was found bruised and drugged out which would have been unfair to her if she were tried at that time. She wouldn't be able to think right with that state. We decided to give her medical attention before presenting her in court."_

_The bearded general scanned through the medical document inside the folder. "Reason is acceptable. Proceed."_

_The black hair commander of the Military Police cleared his throat as he proceeded to present the case. "As I had successfully captured the last brothel house I came upon this girl. She had papers written that Herman Collier is her rightful guardian. The proof, however, has been lost during the raid." Nile pursed his lips as he lingered a gaze towards the blonde man from across the room._

_Her breathes were rapid as she watched over the stern face of the general as his eyes wandered around the girl, inspecting her._

"_I gathered this information from other women working for Collier. She had been the main attraction by dancing in the air." Nile scrunched his brows as he struggled to read his chicken scribble on the piece of paper. "Also in her DNA samples we have found traces of rohypnol."_

_Darius eyebrows rose up. "With self-interest or forced?"_

_Nile crossed his arms above his chest. "Collier refused to talk about that information."_

_With that the bearded man ran his fingers through his hairy chin. His eyes stared long and hard at the trembling girl in the middle._

"_What are your propositions?" He questioned Nile._

"_I propose to give her sufficient medical care till she is fit to be placed under juvenile watch."_

"_What?" Erwin rose up from his seat, his hands slamming upon the wooden railing in front of him. "You saw her with your own eyes Nile! She isn't a threat to society." He growled harshly at his fellow commander._

"_Nevertheless we cannot make presumptions made from mere feelings Erwin." He drawled. "At such a young age she had in take such a potent drug, it could have already made her deranged."_

_Erwin shouted, "Look at her Nile! Does she look like a deranged human being to you? She's just frightened with all the things that had happened to her."_

_Murmurs erupted, you could hear some voiced their pity for the girl while others scoffed and said she was too filthy and tainted to be accepted by the world._

"_Quiet." Darius' voice echoed in the courthouse. "I've heard quite enough."_

_Erwin and Nile gazed to their superior who had his eyes set on the trembling figure in the middle. Long and eerie, the courtroom was so quiet except for the tiny sharp breaths from the girl._

"_I have decided." Darius concluded as he began to fix the pile of papers in his hand. With eyes closed he spoke up, "She shall receive medical care then be sent to juvenile prison to let medics observe and test her."_

_The courtroom erupted with mixed gasps. Soldiers walked briskly as they began to pick up the tiny girl._

_Hallinor thrashed around as she screamed for the man whom she deemed was her savior. Her heart raced with panic as she felt hands all over her body. Those touches made her cringe as she remembered all those dirty and lustful touches she had received._

"_Noooo!" Her voice howled as she had gained the attention of all the people in the room. "Don't let them touch me!" Her voice was distorted with the tiny hiccups that came out from her mouth._

_Erwin furrowed his eyebrows as he watched in pain as she was being dragged away. He knew he shouldn't have talked about feelings in court. In the world they were living, decisions made by feelings were considered a great disability. It was a natural thought given the fact that they were in war with beings that were incapable of feeling._

"_Please!" She moaned as she twisted her body around, hitting the soldiers within proximity. Her wild grey eyes throbbed as she stared at every person holding on to her. Her grim features made the men shudder._

"_What's going on here?" A calm voice broke through the chaotic moment._

"_M-My King!" A soldier called out as he saluted, dropping his grasp around the ankles of the girl. The other soldiers followed in pursuit, which made Hallinor's body drop to the ground with a dull sound._

_A soft smile graced his features as his eyes twinkled with delight. "My, my! Who is this little one?" He bent his body forward to take a closer look._

_Curling into a tight ball, she stared back at the king's eyes with fear. She watched as the man before her inched closer. Her heart raced even faster to the point that her breathing became shaky and rigid._

"_What's your name?" Light and gentle, the king asked._

_She remained quiet as she studied the peering eyes around her. Everyone in the room waited for her response since they all knew it would be rude not to answer the most important man in the world._

_Hallinor would have answered if she knew that. She would have explained why she was in that sinful house in the first place. But alas, she had never experience human interaction except for those lusty touches. She never knew how to speak up since it was already drilled into her mind that she would get a serious bruise if she had voiced out her thoughts._

"_Hey scum! Answer the King's question!" A villager spat as he looked at the girl with a disgusted expression._

_After the outburst, other people joined in their harsh words towards the girl. Judgmental eyes laughed and scorned her._

"_My King, please do not touch her. She's just a filthy little trash." One soldier spoke as he blocked the king from the girl with his body._

"_Her name is Hallinor Bismarch!" A voice boomed with anger. "That scum, that filthy trash is only a little girl."_

_Erwin walked briskly towards the king. He knew he had to stand up from the little child. He knew he had to because he knew no one would._

"_My King." Erwin bowed. "Her name is Hallinor Bismarch."_

_One eyebrow, with hints of grey, rose up high. "I heard you the first time commander." He placed his hands behind his back. "What was she guilty for?"_

_Casting a fast glance towards the girl Erwin swallowed the heavy feeling in his stomach. "She was guilty of crimes forced upon her."_

* * *

"_For eight years?" A shocked voice questioned._

_After all the commotion that happened in the courtroom the king had requested that Erwin and Hallinor would spend their lunch with him. Darius, although didn't like the idea, reluctantly agreed to the request. Filled with curiosity, the king made haste in asking Erwin about the mysterious girl._

_Nodding quietly Erwin drank his tea._

"_Eight years! Eight years working for such a distasteful place for such a young girl!" The king thought out loud. "How old did you say she was?"_

_Swallowing the hot liquid down, Erwin cleared his throat. "Thirteen."_

_Bringing his hand to his mouth, he felt sick as he imagined every single horrible thing that could've happened to the young girl. His small eyes lingered over to the quiet girl sitting a few feet away beside Erwin._

_Pity enveloped over the king as he spoke softly, "Was this Herman Collier her father?"_

_Shaking his head to the side that made his blonde hair sway ever so slightly. "Apparently he bought her. Although I have no idea if it was from her parents directly or from the black market."_

_Clicking his tongue in disapproval he asked another question. "And what were Darius' plans for her?"_

_Casting his gaze down as he clenched his fist tight below the table, Erwin spoke slowly. "To be treated then after shall be placed under juvenile watch by medics to probe and test her."_

_The room grew quiet._

_A chair screeched slowly as a plump man stood up with hands intertwined above his round belly. Blue eyes watched the royalty who had his gaze upon the girl._

"_You say she's a dancer am I correct Commander?" He questioned as he took slow steps towards the girl._

"_Yes I did." Erwin responded as he eyed the actions of the king carefully. He could see the uncomfortable girl fidgeting on her seat._

_He smiled down. "Would you honor me with a dance Hallinor?" His plump finger slowly inched towards her arms._

"_A-Ah! Your Highness!" Erwin stood up as the king turned his head towards the blonde man, his hand stopping in mid-air._

"_Yes Commander?" He questioned._

"_I'm sure she would love to show you a performance but right now she is still recovering." Erwin reasoned out._

_Bringing his hand to his mouth, the king became red. "Oh! Of course, how silly of me, then I insist she visits me once she is well."_

_Slowly walking in near the king and Hallinor, Erwin looked sad. "I'm afraid she won't be able to. Darius already sent her to juvenile prison."_

_The little girl wrapped her arms around Erwin's arm tightly as she buried half of her face. Her mouth pulled down as her eyes looked glassy as tears welled up._

_Watching this the king scoffed as he replied. "There will be no such thing!" Raising a finger up to the air. "I shall talk to Darius immediately. I see no sense in locking her up again in a place she clearly doesn't wish to be."_

_Clapping his hand together as he beckoned for a servant he smiled at the two figures next to him._

"_Yes your Majesty?" A small thin man asked with a bow._

"_Would you prepare adoption papers and a pen immediately for the Commander." He said with a serious tone. With that, the servant scurried off to find the objects the royalty had asked for._

"_My King?" Erwin questioned with a confused face._

"_Now I'm agreeing to this just because I believe she deserves a better life Commander. But I would like for her to come visit me every month. I would love to see how she grows." Chuckling lightly with a satisfied smile._

"_You would make a great father, Commander Smith."_


	12. Chapter 11

**Author's Note: **I still do not own Shingeki no Kyojin or its characters.

**Some other notes: **Letter in italicizes format are for thoughts and flashback of the characters. (ex. _"Blah blah blah")_

* * *

**Chapter 11: A Proper Punishment**

"You will follow what I say." A voice growled. "When I tell you to go left, you will go left without a question. When I say you should stop breathing, I expect you to fucking stop breathing."

Bored eyes looked at the man beside her. She watched the figure bop up and down as the horse galloped. "Then that would be very crappy instruction Captain."

His eyes glared intensely at the smaller figure that wore a cheeky expression. "One more unsolicited word from you Bismarch and I will have Erwin remove you from the Survey Corps."

Rolling her eyes she tore her gaze off from the captain. Whipping her reins down made her horse gallop faster, breaking the formation Levi had just explained to her.

"Bismarch! Get your fucking ass back here!" Levi called loudly.

"Erwin merely placed me on your squad Captain!" She shouted back without bothering to turn or slow down. "That mere fact doesn't give you power over me." Tugging her lips to a smirk, she kicked the sides of her horse to make it run faster.

Growling low with seething irritation, he gripped the reins of his horse tightly.

"Captain, do you want me to go after her?" Eld questioned as he looked at the dark expression of the small man.

"Tch." Levi shook his head in disapproval. "I'll handle it. Just keep the group in the right course." And with that Levi kicked his horse to match the speed of Hallinor.

He could see her back inching closer and closer to him, he squinted his eyes as he reached over inside his jacket. Pulling out the 3DMG as he was now side-by-side with the reckless girl.

"Oi!" He called.

Whipping her head to the side with a displeased look, she opened her mouth to speak out but was caught off guard when she heard Levi fire his 3DMG gear directly at her.

Time had seem to go in slow motion as the sharp end of Levi's gear flew off to the ground, just right in front of Hallinor's horse. Without reacting in time, Hallinor's horse tripped over the wire, making them fly in the air with an ungraceful tumble.

Her body rolled on the soft grass till it began to decrease in velocity. Hoisting herself up slowly she began to dust of the blades of grass that clung all over her. In the distance she could hear footsteps coming near her. Her cheeks fumed with red she turned her head around to look up to the captain.

"What the fuck was that for?" She spat harshly.

Arms crossed over his chest, he peered down at the small figure sitting on the ground. "Erwin's not here to save your fucking ass this time princess." His tongue drawled with sarcasm.

Clenching her fist she retorted, "I don't need him to save me from you!"

Harshly grabbing her left sleeve, Levi pulled her up to make her look at his face dead straight. "Erwin placed you in my squad for this mission because this is a part of the private training he asked me to give you."

Hallinor had not listened to the words he spoke as she struggled to get away from his hold. Her mouth clenched tight as she repeatedly shouted at him. "Let go!"

He shook her roughly as he pulled her closer to his face. "Get a grip! I'm not going to risk the lives of my men for you." With that Levi roughly released his grasp as he walked back to his horse.

Staring long and hard at the retreating figure, she mumbled low.

"You asked for it Captain."

* * *

Titans surrounded them as the army of soldiers who now depended on the trees for their movements. Over in one section of the forest, Hange's group of five people was fending off titans. They could hear grunts and muffled cries from soldiers and titans. While on the other side of the forest, Levi looked over to Petra and Oluo and gave then a silent nod.

"Three on the left, two on the right." Levi whispered. "I'll handle the ones on the left." And with that the three figures began to make their move.

Levi activated his gear, rushing through the trees with ease. He was best known for his 3DMG skills. Having a small stature had its perks, and Levi for sure knew that. Arching his weight to one side, he made a sharp turn as he readied his blades for a strike. Eyes dead set for a kill.

"Too slow." He heard a whisper, making him lose his balance slightly. Zooming past him was the girl with silver locks. She teased with a wink as she twisted her body and slashed the weak flesh of one titan.

"You're going to have to be quicker than that, Captain." She called, making the last word drip sickly too sweet with sarcasm. Reaching the peak height of her gear she twisted her upper body making it descend with a fast spin. It hit the titan's neck accurately as it howled in pain.

Levi glared as he made his way towards the last titan in view. "Fall back brat." He shouted as he could see from his peripheral view that Hallinor was not too far behind. He could see her spinning and twirling among the trees with a vacant smile plastered on her face.

"This isn't one of your performances for the king, shithead." Levi mumbled to himself with a glare. His grip tightened over the handles of his blades. Eyeing the fleshy target, he raised his weapon once more.

Striking it clean, he could hear the flesh hissing as it slowly disappeared. Landing softly on the ground he studied his body if there were any traces of dirt. Grunting with satisfaction, he found none.

Soon he heard someone land a few meters next to him. Turning his head to the side he saw her small figure, looking at him cockily.

"That was quite impressive." She praised with a fake tone of amusement.

Crossing his arms he glared hard at the girl. "Don't fucking sass with me."

Humming softly with eyes glinting with interest, she opened her mouth. "Oh Captain," She paused. "Such a filthy tongue." Her mouth curved to the side as she shot her gear towards the sky, clamping tightly to one branch, her body lifted off from the ground.

"Oi! Bismarch!" Levi called. "Where the fuck are you going?"

Landing on the branch, she balanced herself as she placed her hand against the tree trunk. Peering down her shoulder, her grey eyes marveled with mischief.

"I'm going to make you regret agreeing Erwin's silly little proposals."

* * *

"A fucking crazy shithead!" Levi's shouts echoed through the darken hallways outside Erwin's quarters.

Erwin rubbed his forehead. "Hange you may leave. I already heard your report about what happened during the mission. I don't think you need to listen to Levi's reports."

Startled at this, Hange protested. "But Commander, if it's about titans shouldn't I stay and listen?" She blinked through the framed glasses that rested on the bridge of her nose.

Sighing with exhaustion, he lankily waved his wrist. "No need Hange. I'm pretty sure Levi's reports won't be about titans."

Pouting slightly Hange turned her heels as she made her way for the door. Stopping in mid-stride, she placed her hand over to a dainty shoulder. "Good luck Hallinor." With a wink she scurried over to the door, slamming it behind her.

Seeing that Hange's footsteps were no longer within hearing range, Erwin looked back to Levi. "What happened?"

Crossing his hands over, his hardened face seethed with loath as the girl over to one corner smiled smugly.

"Dumbass over there nearly got all my men killed." He said as he raised his arm up, pointing to the person behind him with his thumb.

"Hey!" Hallinor retorted as she stomped over to Levi's distance. "I saved their sorry asses out there." Growling lowly she glared. "In fact I do remember saving a shorty's ass out there."

"Why you little-"

"Enough!" Erwin cried. Rubbing his temples with the slight migraine he got from the two. "The two of you will be the reason of my early death."

Erwin chose Levi for a reason. One of the reasons why was because he knew the captain was more than capable of keeping Hallinor out of trouble, second was he knew for a fact Levi followed his orders without questioning the reason if he knew that it was for a greater cause. But never in his life had he been so wrong about him.

Hallinor had already gotten into Levi's nerves. It was like he was taking care of two siblings who had no ends to their petty quarrels.

"I don't ever want to work with him!" Hallinor cried as she walked further away from the man she detested so much.

"And you think you're like a walk in the park?" Levi countered with sarcasm.

Figuratively, Erwin wanted to bang his head on the wooden desk, but he knew better than to do that. "J-Just go. Levi, just think of a proper punishment for her." Shooing them off with his hand fanning a gesture for them to leave.

"Erwin!" Both screamed in unison.

"Out! Now!"

* * *

"This is all your fault!" Hallinor stomped through the corridors with an infuriated captain walking next to her.

"This wouldn't happen if you just followed my orders, shithead." He growled for a slight second till his face smirked with evil intentions.

"What's with the creepy look pipsqueak?" She raised a brow up with a questioning look.

"Follow me." He simple said as he turned an abrupt right.

"Why the hell should I?" She said as she stopped her tracks, her faced looked at him with defiance.

Rolling his eyes as he turned around, he placed one hand on his hip. "Proper punishment." He simply repeated the words from the commander.

Scoffing she cocked her hips while placing her hands on them. "And what makes you think I'd actually follow you?"

His eyebrows twitched as he forced an irritated smile. "You're not following my orders, brat. You're following Erwin's. Now just fucking follow me." Turning away he continued on to the end of the corridor's length.

Opening a wooden door, Levi rummaged through the seemingly small closet. "Turn around." He instructed with a gruff voice.

Hallinor, rolling her eyes, slowly turned her back with little enthusiasm.

And in a matter of seconds a white piece of cloth covered her mouth, making her splutter in shock. After regaining her composer she whipped her head around to face the captain.

"What the hell is this?" She looked down to the white piece of fabric that was now securely tied around her head.

Throwing her a broomstick, a mop, and a bucket, he grinned at her with a sharp glint reflecting in his eyes. "Your tools Bismarch. Now get started, I want this whole floor shining like my blades."


	13. Chapter 12

**Author's Note: **I still do not own Shingeki no Kyojin or its characters.

**Some other notes: **Letter in italicizes format are for thoughts and flashback of the characters. (ex. _"Blah blah blah")_

* * *

**Chapter 12: Proof**

The sun crept into her eyes. Those eyelids that protected her eyes from the harsh rays began to flutter open. Her face glowed beneath the light that now warmed her body. Slowly, she began to hoist herself up into a sitting position. Hair flew to every direction, Hallinor felt drained out of energy as she groggily surveyed her surroundings.

"Strange…" She mumbled as she rubbed her sleep away from her eyes till she jerked from a mild pain from her hands. Taking a look at the source, she suddenly remembered why she was so tired.

Her once soft hands were now covered with large blisters. Her eyelids dropped halfway as she recalled cleaning the whole wretched floor for six hours straight because a certain black haired captain wasn't satisfied.

Mumbling a soft curse she stood up from her bed, making her way towards the vanity mirror located near her cabinet. As she was walking, in her reflection she wore that face of impassiveness. Opening the cabinet door she pulled out her soldier uniform and a piece of hair tie. After doing so, she shut the door closed as she made her way towards the door of her bathroom.

Hallinor was about to reach out for the doorknob till a loud noise distracted her. She snapped her head towards the left and saw her bedroom door was wide open and standing in that space was the man she was throwing curses just a while ago.

Glaring eyes met bored ones. "Ever heard on knocking?" She coldly asked that was clearly meant to be more of a statement.

"You're late. Erwin's been looking for you and with a stroke of luck he asked me to check if you were okay." He replied with small grunts in between. He eyed the figure in front of him. A small smirk tugged from the corner of his lips. "Tired from your little cleaning last night?"

Rolling her eyes she turned the knob open of her bathroom. Without bothering a slight glance she slammed the door shut.

"Be ready in five minutes. Erwin's orders." Levi calmly said with a voice loud enough for her to hear. He then took his leave.

* * *

The scent of fruits wafted through her nose as she carefully tied her slightly damp hair up. Walking along the busy corridors, she made her way through. Upon entering the kitchen she let her gaze scan the room for the blonde man.

In the corner she saw Erwin talking to four figures. A scowl graced her lips as her eyes landed on the captain she had despised. Strutting towards the table she gave a salute once she was next to Erwin.

"Ah! Hallinor, this is the first time you've overslept." Erwin looked at her with a raised brow and smile.

Trying to suppress the hotness she felt, Hallinor simply huffed a small breath out as she took a seat next to the tall man.

"I apologize, this will not happen again." Her gaze was casted down as her mouth pulled into a straight line.

Propping his elbows up to the table and letting his chin rest on top of the back of his hands, he smiled and opened his mouth. "It's fine, no mission for you today. Just get ready for your training later." With that he stood up, gathering his items. The others in the table imitated his action.

"Erwin?" She snapped her head up. "Where are you going?" She questioned as she felt her knees slowly stand up.

He looked at the girl with a face of confusion. Gently placing his hand on top of her head to give it an affectionate pat. "Outside of these walls. I'll be leading this expedition."

Anger quickly replaced her features as she placed her hand on her chest while the other was planted firmly on the wooden surface. "Why didn't you tell me and why am I not coming with you?"

"I was suppose to tell you during the morning meeting but you weren't there. You were present during the last mission. We rotate our soldiers so we wouldn't exhaust everybody, but you already know that."

Banging her hands upon the table, she made a loud sound. Glasses chimed with the sudden impact, making them spill over the contents. "I'm going!" She shouted with a tone of defiance.

"You will do no such thing." This time Erwin responded with an equal tone. "I am leaving." With that he abruptly made a quick turn as he headed for the doors.

Clenching her mouth and fists she briskly followed after Erwin, determined to talk some sense into him.

"And where do you think you're going?" A voice spoke calmly with ice as she felt the cloak around her neck choke her slightly.

Her grey eyes glared at the hand attached to the end of her cloak. "Let go!" She shouted as she tugged hard on the piece of green fabric.

"Training in the fields, five minutes. Don't be late." Short and abrupt, Levi released his grip as he now walked to the door, heading for the training grounds outside.

* * *

Hallinor growled low as she held her blades tightly. She was trying to steady her breath as her mind remembered Erwin's words just few moments before he had departed.

"_You're not coming Hallinor." Erwin said with finality in his voice._

_Eyebrows scrunched in the middle as she took a step forward. "Why not Erwin? You know I could be more useful than all those soldiers combined." She spoke with confidence._

_Sighing, he looked at her with soft blue eyes. Touching her cheek gently as he gave it a soft stroke. "That attitude will get yourself killed. You are too blinded to realize that."_

_Stepping away from the touch, she shook her head violently to retort. "I don't understand Erwin! I am not afraid of titans! How many times do I have to tell you?"_

_Seemingly he had given up talking some sense to her he made his way to his horse. The look of his face had the features of disappointment._

"_Erwin! Do not ignore me!" She screamed, trying to grab his arm for him to stop._

"_Tell me," He paused as he returned his gaze to her. "What was your reason for persuading me to join the Survey Corps?"_

_Taken a back slightly she replied haughtily, "Too kill those creatures for my own personal pleasures." Bowing her head lowly an eerie grin formed to her mouth. "It gives me the illusion that I can kill people."_

"_And that makes you unfit." Erwin's voice interrupted her thoughts. She looked up with wide eyes._

"_What?" She stammered. A hue of red streaked across her flustered face._

"_This army's reason to fight is to protect people. How can you do that with the way you think?" He asked as he mounted on his horse. Kicking the sides of his horse, he made his way back to his army. Hallinor could hear his shouts of commands._

_Stunned, she stared at Erwin's figure slowly fade away with the army._

"Oi, this isn't a time to space out!" She snapped out of it as she blocked the blade that was about to hit her head. A bead of sweat trickled down her cheek as she now looked at the calm man who had just struck her.

Jumping backwards, Levi landed gracefully on his feet. He watched the feminine figure a few feet away from him regain composure. "Now that's better." He mumbled as he lunged forward with lightning speed.

Taking a small step to the side made her evade the attack in ease but Levi was one-step in advance as he countered with another blow from behind. Raising her blade a few inches above her head she was able to stop it once more.

A small smirk curled up as her eyes flashed with interest. "My turn." She breathed out as she pushed the force on top her, making him stumble backwards.

"Tch." Levi grunted as he steadied himself. "Give me your best shot."

Turning around she took a step forward, twisting her body in an angle. Blow after blow, each strike was precise and graceful. Levi evenly matched her as he crouched down to kick her ankles, attempting to off balance her.

"I didn't expect they'd be so evenly matched." Petra commented as she watched the two figures spar. "I always thought our Captain was the strongest."

Oluo crossed his arms. "Of course he is! Do you doubt that Petra?" He glared at the smaller figure next to him.

Pursing her lips she crossed her arms as well. "I don't! It's just that he hasn't taken her down yet."

"I wouldn't be surprised though. Erwin personally trained her. She must be just as strong as our Captain." Gunther stated as he too was watching the pair.

"You two are crazy, right Eld?" Oluo shouted in annoyance as he turned to the blonde man for an answer.

Just as Oluo was about to ask Eld once more two blades pierced through the soil a few inches from where he was standing. He let out a screech of fright as he glared over to the owner of the swords.

In front of the group, they saw both figures had disarmed each other. Their swords were thrown off far away from them.

Levi massaged his wrists from the strong impact. "We aren't finished yet." He breathed out as he now assumed into a stance.

She stood there. The wind fanned her hot flesh from all the movements she made under the hot blazing sun. She didn't falter as she watched the captain closely.

His eyes glinted as he came in for another lunge. This time their spar was now hand-to-hand combat. Pulling his fist back for more power, he kept his eyes glued on the girl.

Hallinor watched as slowly the figure came closer to her. Panic started to well up inside her. She ordered for her feet to move but they were stuck.

Grey wide eyes clashed with steely ones. She felt a harsh impact on her back as she felt a heavy weight above her. She trembled as she saw the face of Levi a few inches in front of her.

"Why didn't you move?" He questioned with his arm resting on her collarbone, pinning her down securely.

Hallinor felt his breath fan her face. She didn't answer; instead rapid breaths escaped her mouth. Unwanted memories flooded over hear head. Many times she had found herself in this position before.

"Hey shithead, answer…" Levi trailed off as he watched her struggle beneath him.

* * *

His arms were crossed over his chest while his back rested on the wall of her room. He watched her. She was sitting on her bed, fists closed tight on her lap.

"D-Did Erwin tell you?" She mumbled the question out as she slowly lifted her head to look at the captain.

Closing his eyes he breathed out a reply, "Tell me what?"

Standing up, she looked at him angrily. "About why he made this stupid private training! Did he tell you anything about me?" Her voice rose up with hands thrown up in the air. Her eyes were glassy and filled with discomfort.

"No." Levi opened his eyes. "Although I don't need to ask him since you give yourself away quite easily."

Her eyes fluttered wide. "W-What?" Her voice stammered.

Pushing himself off the wall, he walked toward her. Levi stared at her with seriousness. Unwavering as the little girl drew steps backwards till her legs had reached the edge of her bed. This made her fall down back to her bed.

"For what reasons Erwin had don't really matter to me. What matters to me if your incapability, which might be a draw back for this legion." He now towered over her figure.

"I am not incapable!" Hallinor shouted.

"With fighting skills; no, but with working with other people; yes." He simply said.

Rising up to her feet once more, she stared at him right through his eyes. A small gap lay between them. Her breath was shallow as her heart pumped fast with nervousness. "You don't know me." Her eyes gazed down. Hallinor felt her mouth curve down.

"No I don't." He replied quickly with a flat tone. "But I'm here to train you."

"I don't need your help!" She shouted as she brought her arms up, clenching near her chest.

Levi kept his eyes on her tiny figure. He watched her closely. Inside he was in the verge of walking out. Honestly, he had no business in taking care of a brat especially when he knew he had more important matters to attend to. Yet he stayed. He willingly followed Erwin. Maybe because he was a human being as well that he too understood people, or maybe it was just a fact that Levi really cared for others.

Nevertheless, his feet stayed glued on the floor. "If you can show me you don't need my help then I'll leave you alone. Trust me, you'd be doing me a favor." His voice echoed huskily in the air.

Hallinor looked back at him, now minding the space between them. She fidgeted slightly as she asked in a low voice. "How can I show you? You've seen me capable of fighting those monsters. What else do I need to prove?"

"Touch me."

* * *

**Footnotes: **

**1)** I know that in one chapter I said Hallinor took a bath in the public bathroom of the headquarters. Each captain and the commander have their own private bathroom in their rooms, this includes her. I just made her use that bathroom that time since she wanted to avoid walking into other people along the way.


	14. Chapter 13

**Author's Note: **I still do not own Shingeki no Kyojin or its characters.

**Some other notes: **Letter in italicizes format are for thoughts and flashback of the characters. (ex. _"Blah blah blah")_

* * *

**Chapter 13: Touch**

"Touch me."

Her head snapped up in shock with wide eyes. Eyebrows shot up in a mixture of disbelief and confusion. "What did you say?" She asked again hesitantly for the sake of clearing up the doubt in her head that she had misheard him.

"Prove it to me by touching me." Levi repeated with a face that didn't even falter to every syllable he had just annunciated.

Her eyelids drooped low as her mouth pursed into a thin line. "What a bold request from you Captain. Very amusing." She waved her wrist to dismiss his order. Walking away, she was stopped when she heard his voice echo in the air as she felt a tiny weight on her shoulder.

"If you can't, then that means you're not capable." Levi said.

She looked at the hand then to his face. This time her eyebrows met in the middle. "There, isn't that enough?" She asked with an irritated voice as she pointed out the contact they were having as of the moment.

Levi twitched whilst removing his touch from her. "Don't be a fucking smart-aleck. Hurry up and prove it to me."

She paused. Her heart raced wildly beneath her chest as she thought long and hard. Should she bother proving it, or should she just ignore it and let Erwin handle this? Fidgeting slightly, Hallinor clenched her fists tight and looked at Levi with a face of finality. Slowly she raised her hand up, stretching it slowly toward Levi. Swallowing a lump in her throat, she looked determined to prove it yet nervousness was still evident with her actions.

A few inches from him, he saw her hand slightly tremble. Waiting with small patience, it suddenly stopped moving and there laid a small gap between them. Levi looked at her and saw her face filled with inner turmoil. His eyelids drooped down to watch the hand again carefully which was now trembling violently.

"I-I…" Hallinor stuttered. "This is stupid!" She withdrew her hand back to her chest. Facing to the side, a streak of red colored her cheeks. Long stands of silver hair attempted to cover her face as tears threatened to fall down and all she could do to hold it back was to bite the bottom of her lips.

"Then this is useless." He sighed with a look of disdain. His heel turned around to proceed for the door, realizing that it was a waste of time, but he stopped mid-way when he felt a tug on his jacket. Levi turned his head back with a look of irritation.

"What is it?"

Her grey eyes looked solemnly at the floor. He could not see her face since her head was hung so low but he could tell, he knew what expression she was wearing as of the moment. "Wait." She paused for a second then lifted her head to look at him. Eyes gleaming with awaken determination though still slightly unsure. "Please wait. This is hard."

Half-heartedly, he agreed with a grunt. Turning his body back to face her, he waited once more.

She outstretched her arm once more, looking at his chest with much concentration. She could feel a bead of sweat slide down on her back as thoughts of doubts and hesitation whispered through.

"Oh for fuck's sake!" Levi growled as he grabbed her wrist and pulled it towards him with much force that it made her body tumble forward.

Hallinor stood their dumbfounded. She had not expected that. She could feel the heat from the surface where her hand was now touching. A tiny pulse drummed against it, like a lulling soft beat that was rather soothing and exhilarating to her. His chest was lean and warm, the tip of his cravat gently tickled over the flesh of her hand. It was like a fire had touched her hand, although it did not burn her, yet fear was clouding her emotions.

Levi watched her gasp as she tried to pry her hand off but he let his fingers clasp around her wrist, determined not to let go. He studied her face as it slowly progressed from shock to fear.

"N-Nooo-!" Hallinor screamed but a warm hand abruptly muffled it over her mouth. Because she was welled up deep with fear she had not noticed Levi had moved to her back, now trapping her tiny frame around his arm with one hand covering her mouth.

His eyes fluttered softly with a hint of anger written all over his face. "Are you fucking planning to wake everyone up?"

She felt his breath fan over her neck. Butterflies danced inside her stomach as she struggled from his hold. It was useless, she thought in her head. No one could ever remove those horrible memories from her. It imprinted onto her so much that she could never accept anyone's touch.

Hot tears touched his hand. Levi felt her body, which was pressed against his, tremble. Her shoulders shook violently as he could feel beneath his palm that she was biting her lips to muffle her small whimpers.

"I won't hurt you." He breathed out. He grasped her frame tight, not to hurt her in any way but for her to understand it was for console and concern.

"No one's going to hurt you here, shithead." He added. When he said those words, slowly Levi noticed she had stopped fidgeting and had now relaxed a bit, although he saw water continued to slide down her flushed cheeks. Bowing his head down, it made his forehead rest upon her shoulder.

"You don't have to think about it. It already fucking happened." Whispering softly, Hallinor stayed silent as she listened to his vulgar words of attempted comfort.

With the closeness they had, he could smell her scent of fruits and a hint of sweat due to their little spar earlier. It was intoxicating his senses as he slowly released his hand from her mouth. She was so small and warm, that was what Levi had thought.

Hallinor closed her eyes, trying to steady and compose herself but she was too flustered. She bit her lip harder as she ordered her brain to stop crying. But the more she tried to stop it, the more painful it seemed to her. Her heart was clenching inside that it made her feel spiritually, mentally and physically weak.

Levi breathed out a last phrase that captured her attention and embedded into her head.

"Don't let them win."

* * *

Roughly wiping a towel over her face, it turned red.

"Oi, quit it." A rough manly voice called out.

Hallinor stopped but kept the towel covering her face. She could feel her cheeks glowing hot and red. She had never cried in front of anyone else aside from Erwin. Biting her lip she slowly took a small peak behind the piece of cloth.

She saw Levi standing a few feet away from her with arms crossed above his chest. A scowl formed on to his lips and dark lines encircled under his eyes. Slowly she pulled the towel down and placed it on her lap. Playing with the hem of the cloth, she looked down.

"D-Don't mention any of this to Erwin." Hallinor softly said.

He raised a brow.

"I just don't want him to get worried. He has a lot of things in his head and I don't want to put more burden on him." She quickly added as red had spread across her cheeks.

"Okay."

For a few seconds an awkward air of silence enveloped them. She looked at him and studied his face up and down with an eyebrow up in the air. Levi stared back with a face of no emotions. Finally breaking the silence, Hallinor opened her mouth, "Are you sure Erwin didn't tell you anything?" She eyed him suspiciously with a scowl.

Levi stared at her with honest grey eyes. His facial expression didn't change as he breathed out a careful answer. "I'm sure."

Hallinor pursed her lips as her eyelids dropped down when she looked to her side. Creeping up a small glance at him once more, she crossed her arms around her chest. "T-Thanks, for what you did awhile ago." She mumbled with a small soft smile while tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear.

He kept his eyes on her face. It was chaste and it took him by surprise. Levi felt something flutter in his chest but ignored it quickly by placing an eerie look on his face. His eyebrows twitched as he looked at the girl. "Oi brat, don't go being friendly with me. I'm going to make you feel like you're in fucking hell when training continues tomorrow."

She blinked her eyes, shocked by the sudden words of the captain. Responding immediately, she frowned and furrowed her brows.

"We'll see about that!"

* * *

"So for now that will be our mission plan. Do you have any questions?" Erwin asked as he arranged the papers with a gentle tap on his desk.

Hange looked at her surroundings with face filled with puzzlement. "Haah, Commander, where is Levi?" She whipped her head around the room, scanning for the missing small man.

Calmly, Erwin stood up from his seat and cleared his throat. "I thought I would ask all of you since I didn't find him nor Hallinor in their roo-"

The wooden door made a dull sound as it slammed into the wall with great force. It grabbed the attention of the four people inside the room. In the space, Levi looked at them all darkly with his chest rapidly rising up and down. Soft growls could be heard from his hissing mouth. They noticed a few scratches on his face while beads of sweat trickled down his cheeks. Behind him was a smaller figure panting with the same speed as the captain. Her hair was all ruffled and messy, different from her usual morning appearance.

Erwin raised a brow. "How nice of you to join us." He paused as he eyed the two up and down. "Would you care to explain why you two are late?"

"It was his fault!"

"It was her fault!"

The both of them cried in unison as they accusingly pointed at each other. They snarled at each other while staring deadly into each other's faces.

In the background you could hear Hange snicker while the other two captains in the room had their mouths hung wide open. And the only thing that Erwin could do was slap his face while sighing.


	15. Chapter 14

**Author's Note: **I still do not own Shingeki no Kyojin or its characters.

**Some other notes: **Letter in italicizes format are for thoughts and flashback of the characters. (ex. _"Blah blah blah")_

* * *

**Chapter 14: Distracted**

"What the hell are you wearing?"

Hallinor vainly tried to cover up her bare legs by squirming in her place. With arms pressing around her body she tried her best to avoid Levi's hard gaze.

"Ah, Captain! Please be more mindful, Hallinor is a lady. You should speak more gently to her." The king said in a worried tone as he grasped onto her hand and gave it a pat.

"Tch, a lady." Levi muttered under his breath as he rested his chin on his knuckles.

Before the two men, a girl with a small frail looking frame stood at the end of the table. She had just finished a performance for the king and as always, the king had been gushing non-stop compliments about her to the black-haired soldier.

"I-It's fine my King." She assured the king with a forced smile as she took a seat next to him. Taking her hand away from the man's touch, she hid it under the table. Wrangling her fingers with each other, she tried her best to distract herself from the uncomfortable feeling bubbling inside her stomach.

Erwin had told her that he would be too busy to accompany her again and she would be taken under Levi's watch during their trip to the king. Deep inside she felt abandoned and neglected by the commander with his recent agendas he had been attending to. But she knew Erwin didn't mean to, he was after all a very important man in the military. So pushing those feelings aside, she looked back at the talkative man beside her and gave a small smile to show him she was pretending to listen.

Stealing a small glance over to the other side of the table, she watched the man who she would usually bicker off with drink his tea. Hallinor suppressed a genuine smile. It was true that in the past few weeks of their private trainings that they would often pull pranks on each other and quarrel quite a lot, she had started to become accustomed to Levi's presence. Although she still didn't like touches from him, she had grown used to the fact she would always be near him.

"Hallinor?"

"Hm?" She blinked and looked at the king with a dazed expression.

"I asked you if you wanted some wine." The king chuckled. "But it seems your attention was directed to something else, hm?" He whispered in a teasing tone as his eyes wandered over to the silent man seated with them.

"You got it all wrong!" She shrieked in an alarmed voice while gluing her gaze towards the floor. Her face grew slightly red as the king chuckled while Levi raised a brow, oblivious to the conversation the two just had.

"Who's got it all wrong?"

"Ah! Commander!" The king greeted while Hallinor looked up with a huge relieved smile. Erwin smiled back and took a seat beside her while repeating his question.

"Who's got it all wrong, Hallinor?" He asked with an interested smile.

Being overwhelmed with consciousness again she looked down to her hands and a streak of red painted her face once more. This earned a laugh from the king and two confused faces.

"It's an inside joke Erwin. Nothing serious." The king said in between his chuckles as he took another sip from his goblet filled with wine. He then slowly stood up from his seat and turned to face the small girl.

"Hallinor would you be a dear and accompany me for a walk outside?" His gentle voice echoed in the room while his hand outstretched before her, waiting for her to accept it. Her head snapped up and looked at him surprised. She then looked over to Erwin with a face telling him that she was scared to be alone with the certain man with royal status.

Patting her head and giving a small reassuring smile, he gave her a small nod. "It's alright Hallinor. When you get back we will head back to headquarters."

Pausing for a brief second, she swallowed the unsettling feeling inside and turned back to the king. Careful in trying to contain her body from showing she was uncomfortable, she reached out her hand and placed it lightly on the king's stubby palm.

Hoisting her up with a gentle tug, the king proceeded to wrap her arm around his and the two headed outside to the gardens.

The door's lock mechanism clicked through the air that hovered around the blonde commander and the brunette captain.

"So how has she been recently Levi?" Erwin started as he poured himself a cup of wine.

Setting down the teacup in his hand to a plate, it chimed softly upon contact. Levi looked at the tall man across the table and grunted, "A fucking priss."

The room came into a deafening silence as Erwin blinked rapidly while processing the words that just left the vulgar mouth of his subordinate. The servants seemed to have also been listening as they looked at the captain with the same expression as Erwin's.

Removing the unnerving atmosphere, Erwin bellowed a hearty laugh as he covered his flustered face with his large hand. After composing himself, he cleared his throat and smiled. "I meant how is the private training progressing."

Crossing his legs, he slouched from his seat to make himself more comfortable. "Not much." He breathed out. "Still stubborn."

"Mhmm." Erwin nodded while taking a sip from his goblet. "Is that the reason why you've been covered with cuts recently?" He asked with a half-amused, half-curious tone while studying his face filled with tiny scratches.

Despite the distance, Erwin could see Levi's eyebrows twitch as his face turned darker than usual. Keeping silent he waited for his reply.

A soft and low growl escaped Levi's mouth. "She tripped me while I made her clean the equipment room. I fell on some blades."

If Erwin hadn't had self-control, the liquid inside his mouth would have spurted out on to the wooden table. But he tried to remain calm while the other man in front of him was fuming with venom. Never had he thought that Levi, the soldier who was often labeled as 'Humanity's Strongest' has fallen for a trick, such as being tripped over, by some girl.

* * *

The breeze was refreshing. Two figures walked alone under the pale moonlight. One was quiet while the other was talking non-stop. Hallinor kept her vision blurred as she had tried to tune out everything the king was saying. Right now she felt very much uncomfortable but nevertheless she remained passive while resisting the urge to rip her arm away from the king's hold.

"Hallinor?" The king called softly as he stopped his tracks.

Stumbling slightly from the sudden halt, she brought her gaze to the middle-aged man. Her eyelashes fluttered while tilting her head over to the side.

"Yes?" A tiny voice mumbled from her lips.

Smiling with a small huff the king responded. "You seem to be thinking about something. What's bothering you?"

Shaking her head violently made her locks move, tickling the sides of her arms. "Nothing, my king. I'm fine."

"Well, I was asking you how is the Survey Corps. I hoped that you wouldn't get involved in some dangerous situation although I would highly doubt that." The king kindly said as he held on her shoulders and gave it a gentle push down.

Not resisting the touch, she obediently sat down on the edge of the fountain where the king had abruptly stopped. Waiting for more words from the older man before her, she pulled her gaze from him and stared over to the flowing water behind her.

"I had told Erwin not to put you in such a dangerous place but it seems he didn't listen. I'm just glad you're not harmed in any way."

Nodding quietly with a small forced smile. "I am glad as well."

Crossing his fat arms around his plump body, the king huffed. "Honestly, a beautiful girl such as you fighting those wretched beasts outside is preposterous. I could think of several things better for you to do than being outside these walls."

"Hm?" She softly hummed, not bothering to reply at the king's words.

"I should talk to Erwin about this once more. You're better off staying within the walls with a suitable man to provide with your every needs." He breathed out with a tone of determination.

Her heart stopped. Hallinor slowly turned her head back to face the king with wide eyes. "P-Pardon?" A tiny voice croaked. She could feel her hands clamming up while cold sweat slid down her back.

Bringing his hands to his waist, he smiled at her.

"Wouldn't you be better off married than fighting monsters?"

* * *

"Until our next visit again Commander." The king stifled a yawn as he waved his hand as a gesture for pleasant good-byes.

"Yes, your majesty." The three heads bowed as the plump figure retreated back to his chambers.

It was very quiet as the three were outside waiting for their horses outside the palace's entrance. Erwin stole glances over to the small girl beside him who had her head hung low with an expression of anxiety.

"Hallinor?" He cooed as he gently brushed his fingers to her arm.

Pulling away violently, a loud gasp escaped her lips. She took a step backward as she looked at the tall blonde man with eyes that looked cloudy.

His blue eyes widened. It was that expression again he had seen from her ten years ago. He bit back his unnerving feeling and reached out for her once more. But he only received the same response from her.

"Hallinor, what's wro-"

"Commander Erwin, your horses are here." A maid came into his view, interrupting him. A smile was plastered on the young maiden's face, as he saw behind her were three horses, pounding their hooves on the dirt.

At this, Hallinor quickly headed for her steed with her gaze avoiding to look at any of them. Mounting on her horse, she wrapped her riding cloak around her neck securely. Without uttering a single word, she kicked the sides of her horse and began to ride off into the path, heading back towards the long journey back to headquarters.

* * *

In a rush, she slid down her horse and quickly made way towards the insides of the castle like structure. Not bothering to give a proper goodbye to neither of the two soldiers, she ran fast.

Erwin sighed while getting off his horse. He rested his arms on the saddle that was still attached to his horse. Breathing out an emotion filled with turmoil, he clenched his fists and bowed his head down.

"Levi, you may take a rest from your private trainings. You will resume in one week." His voiced croaked. It still had his tone of finality yet it wasn't as strong as it usually was.

The smaller man grunted as he dismounted his own horse. "No." A short answer came from his lips.

Hoisting his head up, he stared at the captain with a look of misunderstanding. "What?"

"I'll resume training with her now." His voice echoed as he swiftly turned to head for the building.

"Levi! Wait!" Erwin called as he tried to stop the man by grabbing onto his arm.

Turning around with force, Levi roughly brushed away the contact Erwin had with him. His eyebrows furrowed angrily with dark lines creased under his grey colored eyes.

"We're not going to make any progress if we let her do what she fucking wants, Erwin."

* * *

Her tired body leaned against the windowsill. She let the cool breeze fan her skin as she watched the moon and stars dancing above in the sky. With knees pressed up against her chest, she heaved in a deep breath. Placing her head down, her forehead touched her knees. Hallinor closed her eyes tightly as she tried to control her overwhelming emotions.

"Oi!"

She got startled by the loud bang, which came from her door that slammed against the wall of her room. Her face contorted to a hostile one as she stared coldly at the black haired man.

Levi studied the ruined room. Pieces of broken glass scattered everywhere on the ground. Papers disarranged on the table on one corner and the sheets on her bed were all ripped into shreds. On the floor were her cloak, uniform and boots left lying aimlessly in a fashion he was not too keen with.

"Get out." Her voice dripped with threatening venom.

"Get the fuck up. We're continuing training." He replied with equal venom in his tone.

"One week, I'm sure Erwin had already told you." She raised a brow up as she looked at him with coldness. "I do not have to follow you for one week, so get out."

Glaring hard, Levi snarled. "I said. Get. The. Fuck. Up."

Standing up, the simple loose shirt she was wearing barely covered her tiny frame. Her tangled hair danced around her face as she had an eerie smile plastered. Taking a step forward, her bare foot stepped upon a shard of glass, piercing her skin. Blood oozed out as she continued to walk forward. Once she had reached a suitable distance, Hallinor looked at him firmly and leaned towards him. "And I said. Get. The. Fuck. Out." Her tongue rolled in a tone the same as his, to mock him.

Not faltering even the slightest bit, he grabbed her shirt and pulled her roughly towards him, making the glass shards crunch as his boots and her feet shuffled from the movement. Securing his hold on her he leaned in with a face of anger. His grey eyes studied her face, which still had that vacant smile on.

A soft mocking laugh escaped through her lips. Eyes glassy, she looked up. "Being rough now, aren't we Captain?"

"Are you going to fucking cooperate on your own or do you want me to make you?" He breathed out with voice that was low and dangerous.

She stopped laughing and slowly looked at him darkly. Her mouth curved into a scowl as she half-heartedly struggled to remove his grasp from her. "Let go of me."

Levi glared at her as he roughly pushed her body backward making her tumble backwards towards the torn up mattress of her bed. Her body bounced up and down from the sudden impact as she felt a heavy weight on top of her. Too numb to retaliate she let her body lay limp.

"Tell me something Captain." She whispered, as her breath was rigid.

Hallinor's chest rose up and down in strain due to Levi's arm pressing heavily on it. Her hair scattered everywhere like long silky threads had spilled all over the surface. The shirt she wore already exposed her belly, revealing her undergarments to him. A mocking smile cracked from her as she continued her sentence.

"Do all men really enjoy situations like this?"


	16. Chapter 15

**Author's Note: **I still do not own Shingeki no Kyojin or its characters.

**Some other notes: **Letter in italicizes format are for thoughts and flashback of the characters. (ex. _"Blah blah blah")_

* * *

**Chapter 15: Mother**

The sun was beaming brightly. The dust from the soil covered her white skin like a new layer of skin. A mouth panted heavily as it had tried to regain the sufficient oxygen needed. Her hand clenched tightly on the soil as she was brought down to her knees. Wiping off the sweat that trickled over her temple she stood up, ignoring the sharp pain she felt from the heel of her feet.

After the little spat they had last night, Levi left without uttering another word except for her to be ready for training tomorrow.

There were two figures in the middle of the sparing grounds. Levi had dragged her early in the morning by force and they had been going at it for hours. Anger was evident from the small captain as he resumed into a fighting stance. Watching at the pathetic figure wince slightly, he scoffed as he lunged forward.

Dazed and caught off-guard she saw the world around her spin. She found her body on the floor once more.

"Is that really what you can offer?" He stood up and looked at her down. "Pathetic." His tongue rolled as he turned his heel, walking away from her.

"We'll continue later, in the mean time drill it into your head that you should start taking things seriously." His voice chimed in a dull tone, clearly unamused by her lack of enthusiasm.

Hosting herself up with forced strength, she felt the sticky blood squished inside her boots. She grimaced; it was suppose to be her week alone, the week where she would just avoid everybody and try to make herself numb again from everything haunting her. But here she was right now, dragged by some person and being pushed against her will.

Dashing forward she stared angrily with determination to the retreating back of the man. Reaching quickly and stealthily in her back pocket, she unsheathed her butterfly knife. Wrapping an arm around his strong neck, she breathed out darkly.

"If you don't leave me alone, I am going to kill you." Her mouth trembled as she pointed the sharp end of her knife against his skin.

Levi could hear her raspy breathes. Not flinching, he closed his eyes in irritation.

"Go ahead." He jested.

Hallinor silently was taken aback from his sudden submission but quickly recovered as she gripped her hold on the blade tightly. She growled low with her arm tightening around his neck. "I-I'm serious!"

"Then do it."

* * *

She winced from the contact of the ointment being applied on her foot. She watched the silent man wrapping a clean bandage around her wound. Her grey eyes gazed softly making everything in her line of vision a blur.

"What are you? An idiot?" A voice erupted into the air. Levi stood up as he shook his head and went over to the sink to wash his blood soaked hands. Wiping his hands dry he proceeded to head back towards the girl who kept silent.

Kneeling once more he studied her feet. "Not even bothering to clean it yesterday. You are fucking lucky it wasn't infected yet."

"I didn't notice." She mumbled.

"Tch." He looked up at her to meet her eyes. It was so cloudy that he couldn't tell anymore what was going through her head. Standing up, he looked around with an annoyed expression. "Where the fuck are those stupid medics?"

"How long?" She asked suddenly making Levi rip his gaze back towards her.

"What?" His eyes squinted as he crossed his arms around his chest.

"How long till this gets better?" She pointed over to her feet with her eyes.

Huffing, he replied. "Well, thanks to your stupidity it might take two weeks."

She remained quiet. Staring off blankly into space, her eyelashes fluttered slowly. Levi grimaced at the once white sheets of the medical bed now stained with soil and smudges of blood.

"There is a mission outside the walls tomorrow, right?" Her voice was meek and barely had strength but it still was clear enough for him to comprehend.

"Yes." He answered with a brow up.

Standing up and ignoring the fact that her wound opened up again with her brash movements, she began to head for the door. Ignoring the hard gaze from Levi, her fingers wrapped around the door's handle and before twisting it, she paused.

"Tell nothing of this to Erwin."

* * *

Levi watched a faint figure zoom past the trees in lightening speed. Beside him was a concerned and confused commander. He didn't bother telling Erwin about their little incident yesterday; instead he covered it up with a lie. He told him everything was fine and she was back to her normal bratty self.

But now, all he wanted to do was knock some sense into that girl. She had avoided talking to anyone, including Erwin. She had been doing everything she pleases and Levi had noticed she was purposely using more gas than she had ought to. Their mission had only just begun in the forest and he could estimate that her gas tank was already more than half-empty.

Twisting her body, she rose up so high. Releasing a great amount of gas, she reached her peak as she pressed on her trigger making her 3DMG recoil its wires back to place. Now in the midst of free falling, she closed her eyes as she felt the rush of adrenaline pump through her veins. The wind blew harshly upon her skin. Gaining more speed, her body accelerated towards the ground.

"Hallinor!" Erwin called out as he saw her tiny figure descending.

Opening her eyes she shot out her gear in the nick of time. Gliding through the trees, she moved forward not even bothering to stop and tell Erwin that he had nothing to worry about and that she was fine.

"Levi." Erwin breathed out. "Go catch up to her and make sure she doesn't get into trouble."

Grunting with no choice as he left the group behind, he picked up speed in pursuit of the reckless woman. Glaring hard, he was drawing nearer and nearer till his eyes snapped wide open because in the far off distance was a 14-Meter titan and she was heading straight for it. Cursing under his breath, he released more gas.

Lost in her own realm, Hallinor had not noticed the giant a few meters away from her. It was only when the titan shifted had she looked up with alarm. Caught off guard, she swung to her left as a large hand came whisking down, barely grazing her.

She cursed as she pulled her blades out as she eyed the titan darkly. Shooting off the gear to a tree branch, she twisted her body as she headed back for the titan. Readying her blades for a strike, her eyes were now filled with bloodlust.

Inching nearer her mouth curled into a sinister smile. Hallinor let out a small laugh as she had enjoyed the fact that she would be soon piercing through flesh. But in the midst the titan faced her and then suddenly her head throbbed as a sudden flash of memory flooded her vision.

A kind woman, covered in blood, smiled lovingly at her.

Her eyes widened as she mouthed a soft word.

"Mama?"

* * *

He was cursing over and over in his head. He was watching her barely escaping from a lethal blow from the large giant but relaxed a bit when he saw her unsheathing her blades and heading back for a kill.

Her blades were positioned for a strike till her body jolted. She now ran out of gas. Levi watched her body hanging limply in the air as her gear was still attached to a tree. Gaining speed again once more he noticed the titan raised its arm and stretched over. It coiled its large fingers over her torso.

"Bismarch!" He shouted in attempt to grab her attention seeing that she now was paralyzed in her current situation. He swung faster in the forest, determined to reach her before the titan would devour her.

Hallinor felt tears run down, she was hysterically calling out the woman in her vision. The heat from the titan's grasp was burning her. Looking up she saw its eerie and distorted face grinning maliciously at her.

He was close. Levi brought out his blades. Readying for a strike on the back of its neck, he twisted his body for more power. But he was too late.

He saw the titan gripped on to her body, crushing it. Blood sprayed from her mouth then her body turned limp and lifeless. Anger filled him as he bellowed a shout, striking the flesh, killing the murdering monster.

Its flesh hissed as it collapsed to the ground. The air was hazy, filled with smoke from the evaporating corpse. Landing on the ground in a rush, he squinted as he searched for the girl.

Once the smoke had cleared up, Erwin landed next to Levi's still body. "Levi, where's Hallinor?" He questioned as he placed his hand on his shoulder.

He received no response from the captain. He raised a brow as he followed Levi's gaze. Turning his head slowly, his face twisted into horror. There he saw a limp figure in a few distance from them lying on the ground swimming on a fresh pool of blood.

"H-Hallinor?" Erwin took a small hesitant step forward, unsure if his eyes were just playing mean tricks to him.

But it was true. Her hair was now stained with the red ooze from her own body. Strands danced all over her face that was filled with cuts. Her body lay still in an awkward angle; it looked lifeless, as her face was pale. Her grey eyes were hidden with her eyelids covering them.

Kneeling down in disbelief, Erwin gingerly picked up her body. Shaking it tenderly he cooed for her to wake up. As he got no response from her, hot tears flooded the blonde man's face. Bringing her motionless body into an embrace, he let out a scream of agony.

"Hallinor!"


	17. Chapter 16

**Author's Note: **So after enjoying all of your wonderful reactions, I decided to finally post a new chapter to appease you all a bit. I still do not own Shingeki no Kyojin or its characters.

**Some other notes: **Letter in italicizes format are for thoughts and flashback of the characters. (ex. _"Blah blah blah")_

* * *

**Chapter 16: Father**

"Despite the large amount of blood loss, internal bleeding and broken bones, her body seems to be responding well from our surgery."

It had been already a week since the incident had happened. Erwin gazed up from the seat with red puffy eyes. With a dazed nod he stood up and shook the man's hand that had just told him about Hallinor's condition. "Thank you Dr. Jaeger."

Nodding in response he smiled slightly. "Would you mind Commander, I'm in a bit of a hurry? I would like to discuss about her medication and rehabilitation." The man with glasses gestured for the door.

Mentally shaking his head to focus, he nodded. "Of course Doctor." Now the two men were now heading for the door. As the commander was about to close the door, he paused and looked at the man inside the room.

"If she wakes up, please call me Levi." When he heard a soft grunt from him he gently closed the door, leaving them alone.

Turning his passive face towards the sleeping figure, he crossed his arms around his chest. "How long are you going to pretend to be asleep?"

Her eyes fluttered open. Turning her head careful in order for her head not to spin around, a small forced smile graced her lips. "Was I that obvious?"

He didn't bother a response. Levi watched her struggle to hoist her body up into a sitting position. He studied her, a bandage wrapped around her torso, slightly already stained from her dried up blood. Her head had also donned the same cloth as it had cracked open from her fall.

Hallinor clutched on her throbbing head. After she had steadied herself, she brought her gaze back to him. "How's Erwin?"

He glared hard at her. "What the fuck was that?" He ignored her question.

Smiling weakly, a chuckle clicked through the air. "I'm surprised that you are concerning yourself over me."

His eyes glared harder but he remained quiet.

Deciding not to play aloof she brought her knees up and wrapped her arms around it. Bowing her head low, she bit her lips to suppress a whimper. "I saw my dead mother." Her voice cracked.

He raised a brow. "What do you mean?" He asked carefully.

She let out a sigh, with a hesitant tone she asked. "Will you listen?" She peaked over and looked at Levi with glassy eyes.

Levi looked at her with a slightly gentler gaze. Closing his eyes, he breathed out his response.

"I will."

* * *

"_Hallinor! What's wrong?" Her voice was kind and soft as she cradled the small child who was on the grass in her arms._

_A little face filled with tears looked up to the older woman. "I couldn't do it!" Her tiny voice wailed._

_The beautiful woman blinked her eyes. "Do what?"_

"_I couldn't climb it, I want to learn it just like you mama!" Her tiny finger pointed over the cloth hanging from a tree branch._

_She looked over and gave a small chuckle. "Is that all my little one? All you had to do was ask."_

_Her grey eyes shone brightly as a large smile beamed from her face. "Really? Can you show me how?"_

_Setting the little girl down and giving her a loving pat, she walked over to the cloth and smiled gingerly._

_Hallinor watched in awe as her mother climbed on the piece of fabric and began to twist gracefully within it. And for that moment, all she could feel that her life was so happy and perfect. She wanted to relish this moment. On that day when she had seen her mother dancing in the air, she was immediately captivated by it. Countless times she had badger her mother into teaching her how to dance._

_It was so beautiful to her. She thought in her head, what else could she ever ask for? Everything was so perfect._

* * *

"_That's it, you almost got it." Her voice cooed lovingly as she watched the tiny child struggle to keep her hold on the cloth._

_Her energetic giggles rang through the air. "Am I as good as you now mama?"_

_Grabbing her and blowing a tickling breath on her belly made a bubbling sound erupt. Soft brown eyes looked at her lovingly as she stroked Hallinor's silver tresses. "Even better." She whispered._

"_Helena!" A gruff voice called._

_The two women peered over and saw a buff man wearing a soldier uniform standing a few feet from them._

"_Papa!" Hallinor scurried over and came rushing into his outstretched arms. Bringing her small frame in his grasps, he twirled her around the air, which earned him a bubbly giggle from the young child._

"_Victor." Helena called out with a soft smile._

_Setting the girl down. The man with brown hair looked at his wife with a smile. "Hallinor, would you go and set the table for us. Dinner is almost ready._

_Nodding vigorously, she rushed over to the wooden cottage. Struggling to reach for the doorknob, she tiptoed till the door opened on its own. In confusion, she titled her head to the side as she peered up to the man who had just opened the door. He was bald and had a beard and Hallinor had never seen him before._

"_Hello there." The man's hoarse voice cracked in the air as his mouth twisted into a disturbing smile. He took a step forward, towering over the tiny little girl._

_Taking a cautious step backwards, she looked at him with fear. She had lost her voice as her mind went into a complete blank till a loud scream ripped through the air and grabbed her attention._

_Hallinor twisted her neck to where its source had come from and there she saw her father harshly grabbing on her mother's long silver locks, the same ones she had._

"_Mama!" She screamed as her tiny feet rushed over to the two adults. Grabbing on to her father's military's jacket sleeve, she tried her best to pry off his strong hold from her mother. But being weak and small, she was simply brushed off by Victor with his strong arm. Tumbling to the dirt ground she looked at fear and shouted._

"_Papa, why are you hurting mama?" Her voice sobbed as tears of confusion clouded her sight._

_The tall man pulled up the smaller woman with her hair and slapped her right across the face. Helena's face swelled up from the harsh contact as she tried her best to choke down her tears._

"_You filthy bitch. Lying to me!" He violently shook her frail body as he landed another blow to her face, breaking her eye socket._

"_I-I don't know what you are talking about Victor. Please!" Her voice begged as she tried to wrap her arms lovingly to the man she called him as her husband._

_Blocking her, the man scoffed. "I was such a fool. How could I have possibly believed you that this child you claimed to be ours, was from another man?" His eyes glinted maliciously as he saw Helena's reaction change into shock. "Oh, so you do know something." He licked his dried lips as he pushed her away from him. He reached over to the rifle resting on his back and pointed it towards her._

"_I'll do you the favor Helena. I'll let you stay with your man."_

_She trembled as she ignored the blood trickling all over her ruined face. "W-What did you do to him?"_

_Bellowing a sadistic laugh, Victor smiled viciously. "I killed him."_

"_Papa!" Hallinor screamed, refusing to accept what she had just heard. "Please, stop it!" Her face was stained with colorless liquid. She was about to stand up and rush over to her mother but stopped when her father pointed his rifle towards her._

_He glared his emerald eyes towards the little girl. "I am not your father, you little product of filth." His finger gently tightened on the trigger, determined to shoot. He was about to press it till he felt someone knock him over. His rifle fired but had missed. Its bullet landed a few feet away from Hallinor who was glued to the ground with a face of shock._

_Helena had pushed Victor in the nick of time and off-balanced him. She rushed over to the stunned child and picked her up, despite the ache she felt all over her body. Weeping softly she made a run for it as her arms wrapped tightly on the silent girl._

_After a long run, Helena set her down on the ground. Kneeling down as she looked at her daughter gingerly._

"_Hallinor! Hallinor you are hurt?" She asked in between pants of air as she inspected for any wounds._

_The blood from her mother's face stained the white dress she wore but she hadn't noticed. She looked up and saw an unrecognizable face. Soon, her shoulder shook violently as she let all her tears pour out of her eyes. Hugging on her mother tightly, she burrowed her head in the crook of her neck._

_Stroking her little back, Helena cooed comforting words that they were safe now. And soon after Hallinor had calmed down, she stood up while her hand held on the tiny one's tightly._

"_We have to keep moving darling." Gently tugging the small hand, she smiled._

_Wiping her tears away, she looked up and smiled back. Her small voice echoed in the air, "Okay."_

_BANG._

_The eerie sound rang through her ears as the woman in front of her had a face that was stunned. While they were resting, they had not thought that Victor would pursue after them. Hallinor watched her mother shakily clutch on her abdomen. Crimson stained the older woman's clothes and the patches grew bigger and darker._

_Helena tried to steady her raspy breaths as she looked back to the young child with a comforting sad smile. Ignoring the fact she would dirty her even more with her own blood, she encircled her arms around the stunned body tightly._

"_Hallinor," Her voice croaked as she slightly winced in pain. "Please know that mama loves you so much."_

_Her wide grey eyes stared off into the ground. It was too much for her to comprehend what was happening. Just a few moments ago she was so happy and trouble free then all of a sudden her father had just shot her mother. She wanted to scream and ask him why he did it but nothing left her mouth._

_Helena rested her forehead upon her daughter's tiny head. She could hear her husband's footsteps drawing near them. Clutching protectively, her face hitched into panic as she had the unsettling fear of thinking that Hallinor would be harmed._

"_Baby, baby," She whispered to call for her attention. Hesitantly, the tiny head rose up and looked at her with those scared grey eyes._

"_Remember all those days when you were so scared of heights after falling for the first time?" Helena asked in a tone of haste._

_Nodding numbly, Hallinor stayed silent._

"_And remember that you still kept trying to climb that cloth despite your fear."_

_Nodding again, tears filled her eyes as she bit down hard on her lip._

"_Do you remember what mama would always tell you when you were too afraid?" Her voice wavered in pain. She tried her best to control it but she could already feel her body growing cold._

_Nodding again, her tiny voice opened up to speak in a small tone. "D-Don't let them win." She said in between tiny hiccups._

"_Don't let them win." She breathed out with a smile. "They are nothing but emotions Hallinor. They will trick you, they will try to scare you and they will try to hurt you but never ever let them win."_

"_Oi…" A cold voice called out. "Stop filling her head with such nonsense." Victor glared down as he pierced his blade through the woman's chest, claiming her few seconds of life left._

_Helena coughed from the sharp pain. Her bloodied face tried its best to look serene with a smile._

"_Mama loves you very, very much." Placing a light kiss on her head, she let her body finally succumb to death._

_Hallinor watched her body fall lifelessly on the ground. Blood pooled around the frail body and her almost unrecognizable face looked peaceful. Tear filled eyes looked up over to the man who had just killed Helena._

_Green eyes glared at the crying little girl as he pulled out the blade from the dead body. Snarling slightly, he turned his heel around and walked away._

_The bald man who Hallinor found that was inside their home smirked, his body leaning against a tree nearby. "Aren't you going to kill the little runt as well?"_

"_Fuck off Herman." His voice growled low, not even bothering to stop, he continued to walk off._

_Shrugging his muscular shoulder, he chuckled. "Hey, I'm just saying that she has a mouth too you know."_

_Stopping in his tracks, he clenched his fists into a tight ball. "Do whatever you want with her."_

_Raising a brow, Herman stroked his beard. "Isn't she your daughter?"_

_Turning his head around, a face of emptiness smiled in pain._

"_She is nothing to me."_

* * *

**Footnotes:**

**1) **In case it wasn't so clear to you guys, Victor is a Military Police Soldier thus he had access to a riffle.


	18. Chapter 17

**Author's Note: **I still do not own Shingeki no Kyojin or its characters.

**Some other notes: **Letter in italicizes format are for thoughts and flashback of the characters. (ex. _"Blah blah blah")_

* * *

**Chapter 17: Listen**

"It's clearly a miracle Commander. After receiving so much damage, I am surprised she had survived the surgery." Dr. Jaeger stated as the two figures walked through the corridors of the building.

Smiling weakly, Erwin nodded. "I'm just relieved that she is still alive."

"Yes, but being alive doesn't mean she's ready to go out and fight again." The medical man spoke seriously.

"I am aware of that Doctor."

"It would take at least two months for her wounds to fully close but that doesn't mean she can abuse her body. I'd estimate a full rest for six months would suffice for full recovery."

Biting his lower lip, Erwin thought long and hard. Looking over to the man barely reaching his shoulders, he asked. "What about walking?"

Dr. Jaeger stopped his walking and looked at the taller man with blinking eyes. "What about it?"

Swallowing a lump, Erwin rephrased his question. "Will she be able to walk again?"

* * *

The room was silent. Hallinor looked at the bed vacantly as the man inside the room, who was a few inches away from her, stayed silent.

Snapping out of it, she carefully looked over to her side and gave a small smile. "And then the next thing I knew I was brought to this brothel house and was forced to dance in front of men."

Levi's eyes fluttered softly as he casted his gaze down to the floor. "I know."

Slightly shocked, she titled her head and raised a brow. "What do you mean you know?"

"I know what happened after." He responded.

Gazing back down, Hallinor grimaced. "So Erwin did tell you. You lied to me." Her tone was low.

"No." He breathed out as he brought his arms around his chest. Looking outside the window, he watched the clouds. "The king told me everything, unintentionally I assume."

Turning her gaze back to him, she blinked. Smiling softly, her face looked earnestly towards the black haired captain. Pushing off the blanket, a cast could be seen on her left leg. Gently pushing her body to the edge of the bed, she took a deep breath in.

"What the hell are you trying to do?" Levi growled as he turned to look at her, he watched her movements carefully.

Hallinor looked at him with a soft smile. "I just want some air. Lying around had been a bit boring." Pushing off her body gently off the bed, her body stood up on the floor till a sharp pain rippled from her leg. Getting off-balanced, she staggered slightly till she felt warm arms wrap around her.

"Get back to bed brat." Levi's voice echoed near her ear.

Looking up at him with stunned eyes, her fingers wrapped around his arms tightly as she tried to steady her stance. For a split second her heart fluttered inside her chest but she quickly pushed it away. She chuckled softly. "I suppose I should follow you obediently this time."

Grunting, Levi carefully placed her back in bed. After doing so, Hallinor, who was now lying down on her bed once more, looked at him with tired eyes. All the medications she had received made her feel drowsy.

"I'll go find Erwin." He breathed out, as he was about to head for the door.

"You know something Captain," Her voice whispered softly.

He stopped in his tracks and looked down and waited for her to continue.

Her lips formed into a hazy smile as her eyes closed, succumbing to the medicine. She mumbled soft words till finally she had fallen into a deep slumber once more.

Levi stared long till he had confirmed she was really asleep. He then went straight for the door to look for his superior and tell him that she had woken up for a few minutes but went back to sleep.

Walking briskly through the silent corridors, his heels echoed. A soft scowl painted his mouth as he heard her last words to him echo through his head.

"_I never told anyone about my mother and father, except you."_

* * *

"You have nothing to worry about Commander. Just give her some painkillers I prescribed when her body starts to ache again." Dr. Jaeger said as he had one foot stepping on the horse-drawn carriage.

"Yes, I will. Thank you Doctor." Erwin smiled as he shook the man's hand and watch him take his leave. As the image of the vehicle soon came into a blur in Erwin's vision he pinched the bridge of his nose as he let a sigh escape from his mouth. He was relieved that Hallinor had gotten through the worst alive and all the broken bones would all heal.

"Erwin." A husky voice called out.

The blonde man turned and smiled softly. "Levi! How is she?"

"She woke up a few minutes after you and Dr. Jaeger left the room, but she went back to sleep." The black haired captain responded.

He let a sigh escape his lips. "That's great."

Levi watched the superior. He noticed black bags encircled the commander's eyes. His blue clear eyes were now red, probably from crying, he assumed. Erwin looked like a wreck and it was so rare to see him be so.

"I should probably go back to her. I'm sure she'd be glad to see me when she wakes up again." Erwin breathed out as he patted Levi's strong shoulder.

With his grey eyes, he silently watched the staggering figure retreat to the insides of the building. "Commander," His voice echoed loudly.

Stopping in his mid-stride, Erwin tiredly looked back. "Hm?"

"You should probably get some rest. I'll watch over her and call for you when she wakes up." He simply suggested.

Pausing briefly, Erwin weighed it down. He had other important things to do and surely after all the time spending beside the injured girl, all his tasks had been compromised.

"I suppose and I should also write a letter to the king." He smiled kindly to Levi and with a nod he left him, now heading for his quarters for a good rest.

* * *

Two months.

It had been two months and Hallinor sat wearily upon the soft mattress of her bed. Her back was leaned against the headboard as her bored eyes watched the loud patters of rain slam against the glass of her closed window. Her eyelids closed and opened slowly, trying to remind her that this would only be temporary.

Erwin was gone for a mission, and it wasn't an ordinary mission. It was something about hunting down an aberrant titan who had been crawling nearby the outermost wall. The Survey Corps' headquarters was almost empty, what were left were a few medics tending to her and soldiers, that could be counted off with a single hand, guarding the place.

Her mouth was twisted into a deep scowl. It had been so long since she had actually stepped out of her room, Erwin had seen to it that she wouldn't do anything foolish to worsen her state but as of the moment she just had the urge to disobey him.

Pushing off the silky blanket resting upon her legs, her eyes landed on the cast wrapped around her left leg. She paused for a second; thinking if it would be wise to actually continue what she had wanted to do.

Hallinor grimaced with a groan, she was irritated that she had become a liability to the group and she was considered incapable as of the moment yet being injured had its perks. She hasn't been to the palace for two months and this setup would buy her some more time for at least four more months of king-free visitations.

Huffing a deep breath she pushed herself off the headboard and off to the edge of her bed. Bringing her feet down to touch the floor, she wiggled her toes a bit. Holding a breath, she let her arms take full support of her weight as she pushed herself off the bed slowly. A tinge of pain traveled from her leg but she bit back her tongue to suppress a howl.

Steadying herself, she was contented that she could walk a bit, well it was more of limping a bit but either way, it made her smile. Shakily making her way to the door, she used the wall as her support. Hallinor ignored the spiking pain she felt, she had been through worse anyway, she thought in her head.

Reaching the main entrance, she pushed the double wooden doors open and a strong gush of wind blew pass her. She let out a sigh of happiness as she felt the refreshing wind upon her skin and the scent of rain mixing with the earth envelope her senses. Pausing to look at her surroundings, she found herself alone.

With a devious expression on her face, she limped towards the door. Immediately the rain drenched her whole body. Hallinor beamed as she twirled around with her good leg, making sure she wouldn't put too much pressure on her other leg. In a matter of seconds, the white gown she was given to wear by the medics clung on to her like second skin as her hair snaked around her skin like silver threads.

"This feels so great!" She exclaimed with a tone of liberation. Ever since her little accident, she rarely had the chance to give herself a bath due to the wounds she had received. She could feel all the dirt that had latched on to her these past days was being washed away by the rain.

Plenty of silent thoughts wavered through her head. She had recalled the disturbing feel of the titan's hand grasping on her body. Shivering slightly upon the memory, she remembered a faint cry of agony from Erwin. Her heart throbbed, she never intended to make anyone worry and she certainly never intended for her to get injured, but she couldn't help it.

She wondered silently if she was actually mental, but shaking her head to remove those thoughts, she filled them now with a certain short-tempered man.

With soft eyes, her mouth curved into a serene smile. It was true that one of the reasons why she was open to Levi was the fact she was too drowsy from the medicine but nevertheless, she hadn't regretted telling him so. Countless times, she had tried to tell this to Erwin but every time she would, Hallinor would get tongue-tied. The memory of her mother being killed by her father always haunted her.

But when Levi was in front of her, she found comfort. Hallinor assumed that if she told Erwin, he would probably be more over-protective to her and she wouldn't want that. Levi on the other hand just listened, and that what she had longed for. Someone to just listen to her, hear her out without judging or pitying her.

Soon enough, a red streak painted her face due to her thoughts. Slapping her cheeks lightly to regain her composure, she mentally told herself that she'd rather be dead than Levi catching her blushing.

Twirling fast once more in joy she hadn't noticed someone had been watching her. She was about to have another spin till she was interrupted by a familiar voice.

"What the hell are you doing?"

She staggered at the sudden voice. Turning around hesitantly, she broke out a nervous chuckle as she saw was Levi standing a few feet away from her, also drenched from the rain and Erwin standing next to him with a horrified look. The whole legion had already arrived back from their mission.

"W-Welcome back." Her tiny voiced cracked.


	19. Chapter 18

**Author's Note: **I still do not own Shingeki no Kyojin or its characters.

**Some other notes: **Letter in italicizes format are for thoughts and flashback of the characters. (ex. _"Blah blah blah")_

* * *

**Chapter 18: Fallen**

She had gotten sick the day she went under the rain. Erwin was furious with her but nevertheless she hadn't regretted her little escapade. The blonde man ordered Levi to be by her side all the time, seemingly that he was too busy to be the one to guard her. Reluctant, Levi agreed as he thought he might as well continue her private training, as she wasn't much of a fuss with her current state, which gave him the upper hand.

Three long months of rehabilitation and her cast was off her leg. The pain she would occasionally feel from her ribs gradually disappeared although the trauma was still there. Hallinor looked better and brighter as she was finally allowed to walk around the grounds, yet with the condition of being escorted by someone.

The sky was pink, the sun was about to set and she was standing upon the edge of a cliff. She let the wind ruffle her hair into a mess as her grey eyes watched the scenery. Her calm features looked longingly at her surroundings. She had eluded everyone and with success, Hallinor was able to sneak alone in the training grounds.

With a small frown, she peered down to her hips. Erwin had confiscated her 3DMG, making sure she wouldn't try anything foolish. With half-lidded eyes, she looked over to the trees in front of her. She had longed for being in the air again. She had missed the feeling of flying, the feeling of something surreal.

"Oi."

Slightly jumping from surprise, she turned over to the source and saw a short man looking at her with a scowl.

"Are you trying to test my patience?" His voice growled. Levi walked forward towards her.

Rolling her eyes, she replied. "I just wanted some air."

Squinting his eyes, he crossed his arms around his chest. "There's plenty of air inside your room." His voice dripped with sarcasm.

Ignoring his snappy remark, Hallinor looked back to the setting sun. Slowly the fiery orb sunk beneath the horizon making the air around them cool. The stars hiding in the sky began to twinkle brightly upon their heads. The once pink sky turned into a hazy deep blue hue.

Oh how she longed to be in the air right now. Pausing slightly, an idea popped into her head. Grinning proudly at herself, with her peripheral view, she let her eyes wander over to Levi. All she had to do was convince him into participating with her little plan.

"Hey," Her small voice echoed softly. "Do you want to do something fun?" Hallinor peered behind her shoulder and looked at him with a smile.

Remaining his facial features intact, he looked at her with those steely grey eyes. "Not really."

Letting out an exasperated sigh, she threw her arms up in the air. In the past months, she had grown used to the man. She no longer fussed around much with his presence and she had genuinely liked his company, occasionally. Hallinor had accepted his touch, although still hesitant at first, she was convinced that Levi would not harm her in any way.

"Oh c'mon!" Hallinor cocked her hips to one side. "Think of this as our private training or something like that." She fanned her hand, determined to convince him with her little plan.

Not reacting much, he looked at her, waiting for her to continue.

Turning around fully, happy that Levi hadn't quickly shut her down; she clasped her hands together with a soft look towards the ground.

"When I was young, I was really scared of heights." Hallinor's voiced sounded soft and she spoke lovingly. "My mother came up with this game for me." She looked up toward him and smiled. "And because of it I got over my fear."

Levi watched her talk about her past with a look of reminisce. In the past months he had gotten used to her attitude. Despite the fact that he was annoyed with the fact that she would always talk back to him, he found it quite amusing.

"Captain," She called, snapping his attention back to her.

"Would you mind playing my mother's game with me?"

* * *

"All I have to do is to catch you?" His voice questioned her with a tone of uncertainty.

She nodded to him as the two of them stood at the edge of the cliff, which out looked the large number of trees where the Survey Corps would hold their trainings. After convincing Levi, she was able to obtain a gas tank around her waist. She had explained that she needed a 3DMG but Levi refused. After coming into a compromise, she was only granted a gas tank.

"It's really simple." She said as she fixed the strap around her waist. "You throw me up into the air as high as you can and come back to catch me." Being satisfied with her little explanation to the unsure captain, she pursed her lips. "It should be easy, especially for you Captain."

"Then what's the gas tank for?" He asked as he pointed to it with his eyes.

"It's to help me go higher so I can buy you some time to turn back and catch me." She replied as if it was like an obvious answer. "Now take us to that tree." She stated as she pointed over to a large tree in the distance.

Grunting to acknowledge her, he stretched his arm to her, waiting for her to accept. Hallinor looked down to his hand then to his face. Silently, she bit her lip as she hesitated to put her hand on his.

"This was your fucking idea." He glared at her with a voice of impatience.

She looked back and him and nodded. Placing her hand upon his, he clasped on to it and pulled her towards him. With a little gasp from her, he wrapped his arm around her waist. Levi shot his gear to a branch. Now in the air, Hallinor wrapped her arms around his neck tightly, in fear she might fall. The warmth she felt from his body made her feel queasy inside. The closeness she had now was something so foreign to her. Only Erwin was allowed to be this close to her and yet she had willingly allowed this black haired man to be so.

Finally coming into a stop, he had set her down upon a tree branch. Her feet now planted firmly upon the steady branch, she shakily let her grip on him go.

"T-This is fine." Her voice stuttered. "You can go over there, I'll tell you when I'm ready." Hallinor mumbled lowly as she tried to hide her face, which was red with embarrassment.

A grunt from him was his reply to her as he shot his gear over to the tree adjacent to her. Her heartbeat was fast as she tried her best to steady it. Hallinor looked over to him as he now was standing upon a tree branch across from where she stood. Inhaling a deep breath, she gave a short nod to him, which he acknowledged.

Running at the length of the tree branch with fast speed, she jumped as she had reached its end. Stretching her arms out she waited with closed eyes. Hallinor almost panicked as she felt her body descending down till strong arms grabbed hers.

Looking up, she saw him above her. He held on to her tightly as their bodies were now swinging in the air, like a pendulum. Levi looked down at her and gave her a smirk as he had noticed her face, which had the look of surprise.

Now reaching a height, Levi swung her body up into the air, letting his hold on her go. The air rushed through her, and it was exhilarating. Her grey eyes captured the brief moment of the view that could be only seen in this height. Closing her eyes, she released some gas to make her fall slower. She waited again for those arms to catch her.

And without fail, their arms were linked to each other once more. Hallinor's heart was beating wildly against her chest. Her mother would always play this game with her till she had finally gotten over her fear. Helena always told her that all she had to do was to trust the person catching her.

Could she really trust him? Her thoughts ran across her as she was once more flung into the air. Twirling her body in the air, it made her relax a bit. The split second she was alone in the air, her thoughts circled inside, confusing her. Hallinor felt electricity when her hands would touch his. It didn't hurt her but it was something so thrilling and mysterious.

Usually she would feel dirtied from anyone's touch, but his, oh his was different.

She was captured.

Levi caught her once more. He noticed her body jolted from their contact. He raised a brow and looked down at her. Her face had a tint of red. Amused, he tried his best to suppress a smile twitching from the corners of his mouth.

"Once more." Hallinor spoke softly, referring for him to throw her up in the sky again.

Following her, Levi threw her up higher.

She clamped her hands above her mouth. Her grey eyes trembled with awaken feelings she questioned.

"_Oh my god, do I like him?"_

Her conscience bullied her restlessly as her heart seemed to be doing the same thing. The coldness of the night made her shiver as she felt her body descending once more. Relying on the black haired man to catch her again, she held her breath.

"_Impossible."_

Her tiny voice of reason clouded her thoughts. How could she ever like anyone? Hadn't she learned her lesson from her past, from her mother's mistakes? There are things she shouldn't bother thinking about, such as love.

Oh but how difficult it was so. Once she had found herself in Levi's arms, every thought of disbelieve washed away. His scent was intoxicating her and it made her feel dizzy. The closeness made butterflies dance around Hallinor's stomach.

"_What's wrong with me?"_

She was up in the air again and she hadn't realized it. Hallinor was too distracted to realize that she was now falling back to the ground. Her eyes snapped wide as she saw the ground coming close. In a panic she called out, she called for him.

"L-Levi!"

His strong arms encircled her trembling body. Levi was able to catch her, he barely made it but nevertheless she was safe.

Hallinor shook from fear. She clasped her arms around his neck tightly as she buried her face against his neck unconsciously. She had feared that she would fall yet again and not be as lucky as she was before but here she was, safe around his hold.

With half-lidded eyes, he stroked her back to soothe her. "You gave me one task, and that is to not let you fall."

His voice was low against her ear and it made her blush. Not daring to remove her face against his neck, she remained quiet.

"You have little faith in me. How insulting." His voice rolled in an unamused tone.

"S-Sorry, I didn't mean to." Her voice sounded meek. Looking towards him with an apologetic look, it took him by surprise.

She looked so vulnerable through his eyes. He never thought that she, the proud and complex girl, could make such an expression. Looking away with a placid face, he continued to swing around the forest.

"Hey," She called out as she fixated her gaze on his chest, trying her best to avoid his eyes.

"Can we stay like this for a bit longer?" Hallinor mumbled.

Snapping his gaze down to her again, he raised a brow.

"I-I mean up in the air!" Flustered, she added.

Ignoring her, he only grunted. Shooting his gear off to the deeper part of the forest, he granted her request. Fidgeting slightly, not from discomfort but from embarrassment, she felt him pulling her body closer to his.

"If you keep moving you are going to fall, brat." Levi looked at her with a face of irritation.

"S-Sorry." Her voice trailed.

Hallinor felt warmth; she could hear his heart calmly beating. She had prayed that he wouldn't hear hers as it was beating fast but she knew that he could. Stealing a glance to his face, she saw it was being illuminated by the soft hazy glow of the moon. A breath of awe seemed to escape her lips.

"_Was he always this handsome?" _Hallinor thought silently as she studied the contours of his face.

Resting her head once more upon his shoulder, she let his scent fog her sense. She was drowning. Hallinor's heart ached as she had finally surrendered to her feelings.

"_Oh my god, I do like him."_

* * *

Her feet were planted upon the blades of grass. She stood there, a few feet away from him. Shyly, Hallinor wrapped her arms around herself. "T-Thanks."

Nodding silently, Levi brushed his hair with his hand. "It's late. We have training tomorrow." With that, he turned his heels and began to head back into the castle like building.

Hallinor watched his retreating figure slowly disappear. Beneath the moon, her grey eyes shone. Placing her hand upon her chest to soothe it, her eyebrow scrunched up into the middle. "I gave you one task, and you failed." Her voice whispered silently to herself.

The gust of wind flew past her making her hair scatter around. Her face had a streak of red as her thoughts swirled around a certain captain.

"You made me fall in the most unexpected way."

* * *

**Footnotes: **

1) If you guys had a hard time picturing what they were doing in the training grounds, it was sort of something like a flying trapeze act.


	20. Chapter 19

**Author's Note: **I still do not own Shingeki no Kyojin or its characters.

**Some other notes: **Letter in italicizes format are for thoughts and flashback of the characters. (ex. _"Blah blah blah")_

* * *

**Chapter 19: The Letter**

Erwin sat in his office. The candle, as it was very early in the morning and the sun hasn't risen up yet, that served as his only source of light flickered gently as a soothing wind from the window blew past in the room. His blue eyes scanned the piece of parchment on his hand over and over again. His bushy blonde brows scrunched up into the middle.

_Commander Erwin,_

_ How is my dearest Hallinor? I have missed her so. These past months I had done nothing but worry for her. I had told you countless times Erwin that putting her in the Survey Corps is too dangerous. I respect your decisions during that time but this time I cannot turn my cheek away from this news. You requested me to help you to protect her and I shall do so. I know that she is bound to the rules of the military, abandoning your legion is frowned upon. I had found a loophole to this rule and I assume you would not reject my proposal._

_ With this letter is another one. That one is for Hallinor. Let her read it. It's about a festival I am holding in the palace next month. I look forward to your attendance next month Commander Erwin._

_ The King_

Leaning back, Erwin massaged his temples. His mind ran nonstop as he tried to think of what loophole the king had mentioned in the letter was. In his previous letter to the king, he had asked for the king for help. On that day he saw Hallinor lying lifeless, almost at the brink of death, all he could ever think was how much he had regretted putting her within the Survey Corps Legion. Those images flashed before his eyes and it haunted him. True, Erwin would practically do anything for the sake of human conquest but everything changed when it came to that girl.

He was weak. Erwin couldn't bare thinking of her as some expendable soldier; she was far too valuable to be treated as one. She was his family.

Now, Hallinor was better and Levi had been watching over her in his place. He was slightly at ease. Closing his eyes, he contemplated. Why in the world would the king hold a festival? What was the occasion? Thousands of questions fluttered through his thoughts.

A gentle knock disrupted his line of thoughts. Without bothering to look up Erwin beckoned for the person to enter.

Levi walked in casually with his usual stoic face.

"Erwin." He breathed out to gain his superior's attention.

Slowly opening his eyes to reveal blue, Erwin smiled tiredly. "Levi, aren't you a bit early for our daily morning report?"

"I'm not here for the morning report. I came here to ask you about this." His stated as he pulled out a white envelope from his breast pocket. It had the seal of the king.

Opening his eyes widely to see it more clearly, Erwin stood up. "Is that?" His voice trailed as he took the piece of paper from Levi's fingers. Examining it, he looked over to the smaller man.

"What did you want to ask?"

Crossing his arms around his chest as he took a seat on one of the wooden chairs inside the room, he blinked his eyes slowly. "Why is the king suddenly holding a festival next month?"

So far the Survey Corps had no victories against the titans, so why would the king hold a celebration in the midst of chaos?

Setting the piece of paper down on his desk, his eyebrows scrunched up into the middle. "I really don't have an idea why, in my letter he didn't mention anything aside it's going to happen next month."

Grunting, Levi bowed his head slightly as his eyebrow rose. "It seems the other Captains received a letter too. I'm assuming nobles and people with military rank are only invited."

Sighing, Erwin sat back down. "I'm as clueless as you are Levi. I don't know what the king is planning but I'm guessing it has something to do with Hallinor."

"Hn, why would it have to do something about that brat?" His voice came out with a scoff.

With a look of disdain, Erwin propped his elbow up as he covered his face with his large hand.

"Because I asked him to do something."

* * *

He stood in front of her door. His mouth was tied into a scowl as his eyes lingered over to the pocket of his jacket. After his little talk with Erwin, the commander gave him a letter to be given to Hallinor. It was already afternoon and it was time for their private training.

Without bothering to knock, he came into her room. He heard a squeak from her. Amused, he let his eyebrow rise up as he crossed his arms around his chest. His steely grey eyes watched her as she frantically tried to compose herself.

"Couldn't you be normal for once and knock?" Hallinor asked with a flustered tone. Ever since her realization of her feelings towards him she had always been jumpy. Her eyes lingered over to his face and in an instant she felt her cheeks go hot.

"I thought you would get use to it." His tone suggested he was mocking her. Levi walked further inside, taking a seat on a chair near her worktable.

Hallinor's eyebrow twitched. She was questioning herself why she had a horrible taste when it came to men. How could she like someone so brash and ungentle? He was immature and always finds a way to get to her nerves.

"_What is wrong with me? _Her voice groaned inside her head. Her eyes studied his face silently. _"He's anything but attractive, he's small and all those dark lines around his captivating eyes..." _She paused in her head as she retraced her thoughts. Hallinor had been staring at him for so long that she hadn't realized she actually had been marveling him instead of insulting him.

Mentally slapping her forehead, she knew she had it bad.

Resting his chin at the back of his hand, he looked at her with bored eyes. "What's wrong with you?" Levi's voice came out huskily that for a spilt second she had thought he was asking her because he was concerned.

"You're not your usual annoying self." He added.

Turning around to hide her blushing face from him, she crossed her arms. "You talk as if you know me so well."

Standing up from his seat, he walked over to her bedside. He was a few feet away from her. "Come here."

Hallinor tried her best for her body not to jolt, she retorted. "W-Why should I?"

Levi felt his eyebrow twitch as he looked at her with an annoyed expression. "Because of our training, so come here and sit down brat." With his words he grabbed her wrist to pull her to turn around. With force he pulled her towards him and pushed her on the bed to sit.

She felt those butterflies dance again inside her stomach when he had touched her. Her wide eyes looked up at him with her lips shut tight.

Letting out a frustrated sigh, Levi took a seat next to her; his eyes were shut tight as he pinched the bridge of his nose. "Do you really have to be so hard headed every time?"

Opening his eyes, he turned to his left to look at her and say more remarks about her frustrating attitude but his words evaporated in his head as Levi saw her looking at him with a soft expression. Only now had he noticed that she really had a small face. His eyes lingered around her facial features; he noticed her long eyelashes and her red full lips. Levi had been used to her strong attitude that he had almost forgotten that Hallinor was also a woman.

Grimacing in his head, he shook those thoughts out of his head. Clearing his throat, he looked away from her.

Hallinor could feel his arm slightly brushing against hers. They were so closed to each other that she had feared that Levi could hear her heart pumping fast. Trying to act as if she didn't feel anything for him, she broke off the silence inside the room. "W-What are we going to do today?"

Not bothering to look at her, he responded. "Erwin asked me to give you this." Levi reached into his breast pocket and pulled out the envelope.

Gently, Hallinor took the piece of paper from his fingers. Suppressing her blush, she tore the envelope open. Her grey eyes focused on the paper to drive all her thought about him away. What she didn't know that the contents of the letter were enough for all of her thoughts to be washed away.

Levi watched her expression change. He noticed the paper shook slightly as her fingers trembled.

"I-I don't understand." Her voice came out meek.

Frowning, Levi took the letter from her and scanned it. "It's simple, the king is holding a festival next month." He breathed out and looked at her as if she was an idiot.

"Why?" Her voice trailed as if that one word continued on with more questions only she didn't know where to start.

Not bothering to answer her, he stood up from the bed. Walking a few feet away, he stopped and turned around to face her once more. His grey eyes watched her forlorn expression. "Get up."

Snapping her head up, Hallinor looked at him with a dazed expression.

"Bismarch!"

Her shoulders jolted from his sudden loud voice, her mind was now focused on him. "Y-Yes?"

"I said get the fuck up." His eyes squinted in irritation.

"Ah," A tiny voice squeaked, as she quickly obliged to prevent him from using force on her again. She thought it was better to follow than to let him touch her unnecessarily.

Slightly contented with her submissiveness, Levi grunted. "Now come here."

Hesitant not because of fear but because of the thought of being near him, she slowly took a few steps forward till she was now near him with a gap in between.

"What is it?" She asked cautiously as she tried her best to stay calm.

Without another word Levi took her hand and wrapped his other free arm around her waist, touching her back. Pulling her closer to him, he looked down to her face with an expressionless face.

Red seemed to favor her a lot as it was now painted all over her face. Hallinor felt his chest pressed up against her. The warmth of his body made her legs wobble, which made her fall further into his embrace. Her mouth hung slightly open in surprise.

He was sly. Hallinor wondered if he had any idea how much he had affected her so. Recently he had been so bold to her, frequently being near her and touching her without permission and now this. She really wondered if the captain had seen right through her.

Looking up, Hallinor saw his face was a few inches away from hers. Swallowing a lump, she questioned him.

"What are you doing?"


	21. Chapter 20

**Author's Note: **I still do not own Shingeki no Kyojin or its characters.

**Some other notes: **Letter in italicizes format are for thoughts and flashback of the characters. (ex. _"Blah blah blah")_

* * *

**Chapter 20: Waltz**

A soft lulling sound echoed in the room.

Her eyes were fixated on the ground, watching her feet shuffle in a certain pattern. For a second there Hallinor thought Levi knew her feelings for him. Turns out Erwin told him that in preparation for the festival, he should teach her the waltz.

"You could have just told me, I could have thought your actions meant something else." She mumbled lowly, still avoiding his gaze.

Swaying her gently to the slow beat of the music, he replied quietly. "If I did that you would have put up a fucking fight." Exhaling softly, he raised a brow. "What did you think I meant?"

"Ah." She paused. "Nothing."

"Oi." Irritated, Levi released his hold from her and placed his hand on the back of her head. Grabbing a clump of her hair, he pulled it down making her face snap up. Now facing his scowling face, she blinked rapidly in surprise.

"Do you expect to look at your fucking feet all the time while dancing with some person at the festival?" He squinted his eyes as he questioned her sarcastically.

"I-If I don't I might step on your feet." She answered back with a stutter as she felt like melting upon his gaze.

Grunting, Levi grabbed her hand again and swayed her once more. "Just learn fast." He muttered, clearly not enjoying this as he thought it was a waste of time. Levi wanted to question Erwin that why should he prepare for a festival when there was a lot of more important matters for him to take care of. Monsters were crawling everywhere and what did the humans do to deserve a day of celebration? He was never fond of festivities. Merriment to forget a problem for a while was a waste of time. Escaping for a day, it was a gentle soothing lie to distract them.

Snarling a low growl of pain, Levi glared at Hallinor. She accidentally stepped on his foot, which broke off his line of thoughts.

Looking to the side with pursed lips, Hallinor mumbled. "I told you so."

"I'm warning you Bismarch, I'll make you regret being incompetent." His voice whispered lowly against her ear.

A streak traveled through her face. "It's not like I'm doing it on purpose, Captain."

Unsatisfied, he stopped moving and let her hand go. "Enough, we'll just continue later." Levi turned around as he massaged his temples.

Hallinor watched him walk further from her. Her grey eyes looked at his back with sad eyes. She was very good; no she was excellent at annoying him. In her head, she felt tormented. How could he ever like her if she was far from anything he liked?

Then she paused her thought. What did Levi exactly like anyway?

"Um, Levi." She called out his name softly as she blushed. Recently she had tried more to call him with his name, not just referring him as 'Captain' or 'Humanity's Greatest', but it seemed she would always turn red whenever she did so.

Sitting down on a chair, he pinched the bridge of his nose. "What is it?" He groaned in an annoyed tone.

Her voice contemplated but when Levi glared at her, she instantly blurted her question. "Do you like anyone?"

The room grew silent. Levi looked at her with those piercing grey eyes. Hallinor felt uncomfortable as she wrangled the hem of her jacket. Resting his chin on his knuckles, his eyes looked bored as his lips were pressed into a thin line. Levi remained quiet.

Fanning her hand in front of her, she turned around. "Never mind." Walking towards the windowsill, she looked outside to the setting sun. Bowing her head as if scolding herself from her stupidity. Her head swirled, why was she being silly?

Hallinor felt a mild pain throbbing in her chest. She weighed down her feelings. Maybe it was best for her to remain naïve and push those conflicting feelings away. There was no room for such foolishness in times like this. She felt scoffing at herself. She, a girl who had seen the ugliness of humans in a world of chaos had found something peculiarly beautiful.

But, he was something out of her reach. He was a man who would not dwell on such frivolous things such as love or affection.

"One more run before dinner." Levi, with forced energy, spoke as he stood up from his seat.

Turning around to look at him, Hallinor nodded obediently. Walking towards him with eyes casted down she raised her hand for him to take as her other hand rested upon his shoulder.

She didn't bother to say anything anymore. She felt defeated. Hallinor made her mind up. She would no longer think of such things towards him. There was no room for anything like that. It was for the best.

Swaying her softly, Levi watched her carefully. Her face was filled with turmoil. "Oi brat." He called.

"Hm?" She quietly muttered a sound to acknowledge him.

"What's wrong with you?" He asked as he continued to move her around the room.

"Nothing." She simply replied.

Squinting his eyes, he wasn't satisfied with her pathetic lie. But he wasn't the type who would pry on other's problems, why would she be an exception? Staying silent, he watched her vacant eyes staring blankly behind him. He noticed she had been avoiding his eyes. Levi felt irritation boil inside. He could never understand what was running through her head.

"Can we stop?" Her voice echoed softly, as if she was begging him. "I think I got it already."

Stopping his steps but remaining his hold on her, he looked down at her. "No."

Biting her lower lip, Hallinor nodded silently, letting him move her once more.

Who knew she was capable of feeling such things? Everything was so hazy to her that all her head was screaming was his name. She felt like cursing at herself.

"_You are so weak."_ She mumbled to herself as she unconsciously bowed her head and made it rest on his chest. A while ago she had just decided to shun her feelings away, yet here she was, wondering if there could actually be something.

She didn't know what she wanted to happen in particular if she were to tell Levi about her feelings, in fact she was very frightened about it.

Love destroyed all the ones she had cared for.

Her mother paid the price for unfaithful love.

Her father drowned himself with pain from deceitful love.

Erwin continuously got hurt from stubborn love.

Would she get hurt too?

"How many times do I have to tell you, brat? Look at my eyes." He seethed with irritation.

There he was again, annoyed at her.

Looking up, to please him, Hallinor stared at him with large pleading eyes. Her mouth quivered as her lips parted to question him. "Do you hate me?"

Slightly taken a back, Levi looked at her with raised eyebrows. His eyes softened yet he remained that intense stare on her. "Yes."

Turning her head to the side, she muttered. "Oh."

"But I guess that's what makes you so amusing." He breathed out softly, not caring if she heard him or not.

She felt something inside jump as she looked back with a surprised look. "Oh, how so?" Looking at his eyes, she searched for any slightest emotions from him.

Closing his eyes as his eyebrows met in the middle, he spoke. "I don't exactly know Bismarch. Stop asking me fucking useless questions."

Clamping her mouth tight, she continued on to stare at his eyes. She felt like she was being pulled further into his spell. Oh how she wanted to question him some more, but she decided to remain quiet. Somehow, his answer made her feel better. At least she knew he didn't hate her as much she had thought so.

Leaning in closer, she secretly was enjoying his warmth. Smiling to herself, she promised to hold on to these feelings and not throw it away. Hallinor would silently enjoy this momentary happiness, till it would be taken away from her. Now she wished more than ever to time to stop for her. If only she could relish this happiness longer, but as usual, time would never stop.

Sighing softly in what seemed to be tired, Levi let her be as he felt her head resting on his chest. "Whatever that is bothering you, I hope it gets fixed soon. You sulking isn't much fun. So hurry up and get better Bismarch." He said in voice that almost sounded as if he was comforting her.

"Mmhmm," She replied silently with a nod.

Recently, Levi observed how peculiar she had become towards him. She wouldn't talk back to him and she would occasionally obey his orders. He wondered if he was doing something wrong towards her. Even though it didn't seem like him, Levi usually cared about his subordinates. He was never good at expressing himself.

"_Maybe I should be easier on her."_ He thought in his head as he continued to sway her around. Growling inside his head, he wondered why he was being too overly concerned for her well-being. But right now, he felt weird. Levi was enjoying the closeness they had, despite his words to her a while ago. The sensation rippling through his body was foreign to him that he lost in his own thoughts.

Without realization, Levi leaned in, letting his lips softly touch her forehead in attempt to comfort her. Maybe he really did care for her, cared for her more than anyone else in the legion. A pity, Levi had no idea how much he affected her.

Hallinor stopped moving to his lead. She felt something warm touching her forehead. When it registered on her brain what he had just done, she immediately felt frozen on her spot.

"L-Levi?" She mumbled in a state of shock.

Pulling her away upon her words, Levi looked at her with a questioning look. She saw that his face seemed unfazed compared to hers. Lost for words, she wanted to ask him why he did that.

Cutting her chance to ask, Levi opened his mouth. "It's late, we're done for tonight. Go eat dinner then get some rest Bismarch." He said lowly as he completely let his hold on her go. Walking to the door, he opened it and stepped out, leaving her alone.

Hallinor stood there dumbfounded as she brushed her fingers upon her forehead. Her mouth clenched in embarrassment.

"What?"


	22. Chapter 21

**Author's Note: **I'm so sorry for the super late update. To make it up for you guys, I made this one long. Thank you for all the readers who have stuck with me up to this point. I appreciate all the reviews! I never thought a lot would actually like my story. Don't worry, I promise to finish this fanfiction. I still do not own Shingeki no Kyojin or its characters.

**Some other notes: **Letter in italicizes format are for thoughts and flashback of the characters. (ex. _"Blah blah blah")_

* * *

**Chapter 21: The Festival**

A stranger was staring back at her.

But the stranger in front of her was someone she knew well.

"Miss Bismarch?"

"Yes?" She answered vacantly. She blinked her eyes as she was pulled back into reality. Hallinor sat in front of a mirror and what she saw was someone different. For some reason, the maids of the palace whisked her away to a room and started to apply things on her face and fix her hair. Now she sat there, all dolled up.

"We're done, we just wanted to let you know. You're dress is over there, do want us to help you put it on?" A middle-aged woman asked kindly to her.

Scanning her eyes over to the piece of fabric, she answered. "No, I can manage."

Nodding at her words, the maids took their leave.

Standing up towards the bed, she eyed the dress skeptically. Today was the day of the festival, Erwin persuaded her to dress up but she was against it, saying that it was impractical. Coming to the palace in her soldier's uniform, the king looked at her with a horrified look and immediately ordered for the maids to come and collect her.

Grazing her fingers upon the exquisite piece of fabric, she mumbled quietly to herself. "What in the world are they up to?"

* * *

Levi stood amidst the crowded room. A glass of expensive champagne was wrapped around his fingers as he looked at the people with his steely gaze. He was certainly in a foul mood as he watched the people from the Walls of Sina laugh in merriment.

"You seem a little out of place Levi." Erwin muttered as he kept his gaze straight to the people dancing in the middle of the room.

Keeping his icy look, Levi grunted at the man standing next to him. True enough, everyone who managed to be in line of Levi's vision seemed to cower away.

Glancing upon a large grandfather clock at one corner of the room, Erwin scanned the room in search for a certain girl. "Levi, have you seen Hallinor? She should be here already."

"No." He breathed out as he took a big gulp from his glass. "I'll go look for the brat." He volunteered immediately to get away from the crowded room. Placing his glass down on the table, he proceeded to walk away.

Squeezing his way from the crowded dance floor, he grumbled angrily as he pushed people away from him. Cursing silently as he gave them a glare, Levi was stopped when he felt a tug on his sleeve.

"Captain, it's about Miss Bismarch!" A flushed maid panted as she said her words in between gasps.

Turning his gaze towards the woman, he raised his brow up. "What of her?"

Looking at him with a face of forlorn, the maid spoke. "She refuses to go out of her room."

* * *

"Oi Bismarch!" He banged his foot against the wooden door. "Open the fucking door."

"No!"

A shrill voice came out from inside the room. Levi glared at the door, imagining it was Hallinor. His eyebrows twitched as he continued on banging his foot against the wooden door.

"Miss Bismarch, please!" A maid begged.

"L-Leave me alone, I don't want to go out!" She cried, for a minute it sounded so flustered.

From inside Levi could hear her footsteps pacing around the room restlessly. Growing irritated and tired, he snapped his gaze towards one of the maids. "Don't you have a key or something?" His voice came out sharp, which made the woman hitch a breath of panic.

"A-Ah yes!" She squeaked as she fished out an antique looking key from her apron's pocket. "But, it would be improper to open without Miss Bismarch's permission." She hesitantly spoke as she fingered the contours of the key.

"Like I fucking care." He mumbled as he snatched the key away from the maid and placed it hastily in the keyhole.

Slamming the door wide open, he strutted in with an angered look. "Come on brat, Erwin's looking for you and-"

He stopped as he stared at her. Hallinor was pathetically covering up her chest with her exposed arms. A shade of red looked back at him as she frantically tried to hide from him. Levi could only blink his eyes as he let the image of her sink in. It was his first time that he actually saw her, dressed up, like a lady.

"Stop looking at me!" She cried as she turned her body away from him. Burying her face upon her palms, Hallinor prayed that he would just listen to her for once and leave.

Levi looked at her bare back, exposed from the cut of the dress. He was left speechless for a few second till he finally mentally shook his head to gather himself. Clearing his throat he moved forward, closer to her. "Erwin is looking for you, we should go."

Remaining her face hidden, she shook her head violently to the sides. "No, I can't! Not like this."

Sighing, Levi stretched his arm towards her. Without noticing it, Levi's eyes traveled up and down, taking in her image. Wrapping a gloved finger around a loose strand of hair, his usual strong grey eyes looked at her now with a soft and meaningful expression. "Why not? You look nice for once Bismarch."

She actually felt her heart stop upon those words. For a second there, she had thought Levi was actually telling her that she was beautiful but Hallinor quickly dismissed that thought as she had remembered this was Levi she was thinking about. Turning around carefully, Hallinor saw him standing before her with an expression she never saw on him before. Letting his finger go of her hair, he proceeded to stretch his hand further for her to take.

"Let's go."

Caught in a daze from his face and words, she felt all the feelings of doubt and nervousness wash away from her. Smiling softly, she gave him a small nod as she placed her hand on his.

Satisfied, Levi pulled her gently encircle her arm around his. With a small blush from her, she pondered at how quick she was to agree just upon hearing, what seemed like, a praise from him. She knew when it came to him she would always lose. Chuckling, this grabbed his attention. He scowled as he asked her what was so funny.

"Nothing, for a second there I thought you just gave me a compliment." Her voice rang nonchalantly.

Keeping his face forward, he squinted.

"It was."

* * *

"I'm so glad Hallinor seems to be enjoying herself!" A voice squealed.

Erwin turned to look at the giddy king next to him with a small smile. "I guess." His voice trailed as his eyes now surveyed the girl who was once small before him. She wore a forced smile, as she seemed to be staring into a face of a stranger.

The room was filled with people dancing to the soft music playing by a live quartet group. Among the crowd was Hallinor being whisked away by a man. Her body was stiff yet she kept her eyes locked on his face even if she was blurring her line vision. Inside her head, she remembered what Erwin and Levi had told her before going to the king's festival. Hallinor was to accept anyone's offer for a dance. She was to smile and look at their faces politely. Accept anything from them and don't complain for one night.

Reluctantly, she agreed. She knew there was no way in escaping this. In consolation, she thought, it was only for a day. Hallinor could swallow the unnerving feeling she felt inside her stomach as she was now dancing with the third stranger of this night.

With a bashful blush, the man stared at her. "You are very beautiful."

"Hm?" She hummed, neglecting to hear the words of the man circling her around the room. Despite her eyes that seemed to be looking at him, her eyes were actually looking past him, searching for Levi in the midst of the crowded room.

Levi was sitting upon a chair, his left arm rested upon the circular table as his fingers played with the champagne glass. His icy stare looked at the glass as a foul expression donned on his mouth. After taking Hallinor down to the ballroom, men gathered around them and started to put her as their center of attention. He watched her become flustered and uncomfortable. Levi was about to tell her to remember what he and Erwin had told her before till a man came up to them and took her hand. Placing a gentle kiss upon her hand, Levi glared coldly at him and exited to leave her among the group of men.

He was angry, and he was oblivious to the reason as to why he was.

An exasperated sigh caught his attention. With half-lidded eyes, he greeted the person. "Enjoying yourself are we?" His tone came out in what seemed to be equally annoyed as his face.

"Hardly." She breathed out as she took a seat next to him. With a glass of champagne encircled around her fingers, she took a big gulp from it. "He insisted for another dance but my feet are killing me." She mumbled as she bent down to massage her aching feet.

With furrowed brows, he snapped his face to look at her and tell her off. "So, Erwin permitted you to drink alcoho-" He bit his tongue as his eyes suddenly landed upon her slightly exposed chest, as she was bended down.

"He doesn't know." She replied even though Levi never actually finished his sentence. Sitting up right now, Hallinor looked at him with a soft smile. "Don't tell him, please. It helps me feel calm."

Grunting, he turned his head over to the side, avoiding her. He heard her perfectly well yet his mind still lingered with the image he had just seen. Shaking his thought mentally as he crossed his arms, he gave her a slight nod. "Fine, but I'm warning you Bismarch, if you get piss drunk I'll-"

"I won't." Hallinor chuckled as she placed her hand upon his arm to reassure him. "You don't have to worry." Her voice came out softly as she gave Levi a bright smile.

Feeling the sudden contact, Levi let his eyes linger to her hand then to her face. His lips were still pressed into a thin line.

Hallinor seemed a bit forward with her actions towards him. She had been drinking ever since the festival started. Despite the fact she doesn't usually drink, she had found out that she actually had a high alcohol tolerance. But now, finishing her fifth glass, her head buzzed a bit. She noticed that her senses were slightly being numbed but she quickly ignored it.

"Miss Bismarch?"

Both heads snapped up as her hand still rested upon Levi's arm. Her grey eyes landed upon a tall man, who seemed to be a noble, with blonde hair looking at her with a smile. Hallinor blinked her eyes as her mouth hung slightly a jar.

Bowing down, the man gently took her other free hand. "Forgive me my lady, but I would like to have a dance with you." His bright hazel eyes gleamed as he placed his lips upon her hand.

Flinching slightly, she bit her tongue to avoid herself from whimpering. She didn't mind the touch she got from the stranger, it was more of the fact that she would have to leave Levi again. The whole evening, this had been their longest conversation together. Hallinor wanted to reject his offer, as she had wanted to stay here and be with him longer.

But Erwin's words stuck into her. Bowing her head low, she moved it into a small nod. A satisfied look donned on the man as he gently pulled her body up and led her to the dance floor.

Levi watched them with his eyes, he could feel something bubbling inside him but he didn't ponder upon it. He watched him as he slowly placed his hand upon her bareback. He noticed her jolt slightly from his touch. Having enough, he took his glass as he quickly finished the contents left and discarded it as he stood up and walked away.

He walked further into the crowd. His expression looked foul, scaring the people as he passed them. Levi didn't actually know where he was headed and why he was such in extra foul mood.

"Ah! Captain!" A feminine voice called in an alarmed tone.

Stopping in his tracks, he turned around and saw Petra staring at him with her head leaning to the side.

"What is it?" His voice came out cold even though he hadn't meant for it so.

Petra pressed her lips into a thin line, as she was slightly frightened. "U-Uh well, you see I wanted to ask you something." Her mouth rambled as her eyes lingered from side to side.

Silently looking at her, he waited for her to continue her question.

"W-Well if I could have a dance with you, Captain." Petra asked in a low voice as her face beamed bright red.

Raising a brow, Levi looked at the younger girl before him.

Squeaking, she raised her arms in a fluster. "I-It's okay if you don't want to!" Her voice came out fast.

He remained quiet. Not particularly in the mood for dancing, he crossed his arms as the two of them stood in the midst of the crowd. Petra looked down, as she understood it was his way of rejecting her.

Her heart ached. Petra always harbored feelings for him. At first she always thought it was just admiration but after a few nights of tossing and turning as her head were filled with him, she had finally realized she might have fallen for the captain. Ever since, she had been silently watching him, admiring and falling for him in a distance. And she knew, she knew very well that even if she was in his squad, she was more or less something invisible to him when it came to affairs outside titan killing.

Biting her pink lips, Petra looked up. Her eyes watched him looking vacantly with his usual stoic expression. Striking a conversation with him, Petra spoke. "I really look up to you Captain. Sometimes I can't even believe you selected me as a member of your squad!" She mumbled with a soft smile.

"You were selected because you are capable." Levi replied in a distant tone.

Giggling at his words it made her feel happy inside. Petra smiled at him brightly. "You know, people often think you're scary but I don't think so. I think you're actually very nice Captain."

"Hn." Levi clicked his tongue as his eyes wandered over to the middle of the room. There his eyes landed upon Hallinor. Her face looked slightly flushed, from the alcohol, Levi assumed. His grey eyes watched her every movement and without realizing it, he would snarl lowly whenever the man dancing with her would suddenly caress her face from time to time.

"Captain?" Petra called for his attention. Her face contorted into worry as she saw his face was seething in anger. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine." He growled as he turned his gaze away from Hallinor.

"Really?" Petra looked over to where he was previously looking at. Upon seeing, Petra realized what made him have such a foul mood. With a small sad smile she looked back over to Levi. "Why don't you go over there and steal her away from him?"

"What?" He snarled at her as she flinched from the sudden rise of his voice.

"Nothing Captain." She mumbled.

Levi then continued to watch over Hallinor and the man dancing. His grey eyes wavered around silently while his lips pressed tightly.

Soon, a loud slap ripped through the air; it had gained the attention of the whole crowd. Now all eyes in the center where Hallinor has just rammed her hand against the now swelling cheek of the noble man. An angered look quickly donned her facial features as she gave an infuriated huff before turning away to leave.

He watched her walk off to the balcony doors. Bowing his head slightly, Levi walked off to her direction without properly dismissing Petra.

She could only stand there. Watching sadly upon the figure of her captain disappearing among the crowd. Bringing her arms around her body as she bit her lower lip to stop her tears from flowing; she let out a soft sigh. "You're so oblivious to your own feeling, Captain." Her voice muttered softly.

"Petra!"

A tight frown donned on her features quickly as her voice dripped in annoyance. "What do you want Oluo?"

A smirk tugged on Oluo's lips. He crossed his arms and leaned over to Petra, hovering above her shoulder. "Why were you disturbing our Captain?" His voice chimed in a tone of teasing.

Clenching her fists, she retorted in a high pitch voice. "Leave me alone Oluo!" Pouting sadly, Petra glared at her comrade. Failing to conceal her emotions, tears fell loosely on her cheeks. She hastily wiped it away

Blinking in shock, Oluo began to frantically ask what was troubling her. Petra clenched her teeth as low hiccups emitted from her.

* * *

The liquid inside the glass swirled around along the small circular movement of her hand. With dazed eyes, she watched the contents carefully. Sitting upon a stone bench that rested on one edge of the semi-circular balcony, Hallinor let her chin rest upon her other hand as she frowned. Her head was seething in anger because the man she was just dancing with had the audacity of brushing his hand against her back. At first she tried her best to ignore it and put up a front but she had finally snapped when she felt his hand naughtily travel down, in attempt to touch something she wasn't too keen with as he whispered something in her ear.

Groaning low, she knew Erwin would have a talk with her. Everyone saw the whole thing so she was sure even if Erwin wasn't there to see he would have heard of it.

Hallinor felt a strong gust of wind pass. She shivered slightly as she took another drink from her glass, making it her tenth glass of the night. Her cheeks were now growing hot and she could feel it. She knew very well that she was completely intoxicated with alcohol.

Hearing the glass doors open, her face contorted into an irritated frown. "Go away, I'm not in the mood to hear your apology." Her words slurred from her lips loosely.

"I thought I warned you about not getting piss drunk Bismarch."

Her small frame jumped slightly at the familiar voice. She turned her head over to him and bowed her head lowly. "Sorry, I thought you were someone else." She mumbled.

"What happened there?" He asked as he walked over to the railings near her. Leaning his body towards it for support, he crossed his arms.

Tucking a loose strand behind her ear, she then brought her legs up and encircled her arms around it. "He wanted to do something more than dancing." Her voice grumbled as she placed her chin on her knees.

"And you decided slapping him was the best option?" He raised a brow at her.

Drooping her eyelids halfway, she mumbled with a slur. "I was not exactly in the proper state to come up with a better idea."

Eyeing the empty glass sitting on the railings near her, Levi frowned as he bowed his head. He closed his eyes, tired, as he had quite enough of all the things that had happened tonight.

Silence enveloped the two. Hallinor glanced up to him and drowned herself again with his image. She had secretly been admiring how well he suited the tailcoat he wore. Her face flushed even further upon her thoughts. Her heart pumped fast as she swallowed a lump in her throat. Parting her lips, she hesitated to call him out.

Her head was battling inside. Her feelings were overflowing so much that she felt that if she weren't going to burst it all out, she would go insane.

She didn't exactly know, but for some reason all she wanted to do was tell him how she felt about him. Maybe it was the alcohol helping her to become so bold. Hallinor could feel her hands sweating and shaking.

"Levi." Her voice came out soft. Half of her was praying that he hadn't heard.

Looking up, he stared at her with those intimidating eyes. She felt the words in her throat got stuck. Wrangling the white fabric, she bit her lip.

"You see, I," Her mouth trembled as her voice trailed and stuttered.

"I think, Levi, that I," She was rambling. Inside her head she was panicking as she noticed Levi was now looking at her with a confused expression.

Inhaling a large amount of air, Hallinor cleared her mind. Closing her eyes, she told herself silently that it's okay. She really had no idea how to handle such emotions; it was the first time she ever felt this way.

Opening her eyes, she stared at him with seriousness. A light brush of pink tinted her cheeks, a mixture from her emotions and the alcohol. Standing up, she walked over to him, creating a small gap between them.

Still keeping her eyes locked on his, she opened her lips.

"I think I lik-"

"Ah, there you are Hallinor!"

* * *

Her faced grimaced a little as she stood there in the front of the room. The whole crowd was now looking at her. A while ago, she was just about to tell Levi how she felt till the king came barging in. He had told her that he had been searching for her as he grabbed her away and dragged her off into the insides of the palace.

Now here she was, now being the center of attention as the king spoke.

"Now, I know you are all wondering what was the occasion why I held a festival." The king started. The whole room was muttering soft whispers as they kept their gaze towards her.

Hallinor looked at all the unfamiliar faces with a blur. She wasn't really paying attention to the king. Her mind was still lingering around a certain black haired captain. Suddenly, she was pulled out of her own thoughts as the king took hold of her small hand. Giving it a pat, he gave her a smile.

"Hallinor, I'm sure you've met Jacques Marin." The king spoke as he pointed over to the man standing next to him.

She looked up and saw a brunette man with deep blue eyes smiling at her. Giving a small nod to the king, she remembered him vaguely. He was one of the men who had asked for a dance.

"This festival is actually for you my dear. It is your grand celebration!" The king stated in glee.

Jacques stepped in closer to her as he smiled and took Hallinor's hand and stroked it softly.

She watched him in a puzzled look then she lingered over to the king. With a questioning look, she asked. "What are you talking about?"

Without answer her question, Jacques knelt down on one knee as he kept his hand on hold hers. With a smile, he looked at her earnestly. "I know this is kind of soon and unexpected but I have taken a liking to you." He muttered softly for her to hear.

She stared at him with wide eyes, oblivious to what his words meant. "What are you doing? Get up, people are looking." She spoke frantically as whispers from the people grew louder.

Clearing his throat, Jacques looked back at her shyly. "Miss Hallinor Bismarch, would you give me the honor of becoming my wife?"

Her large eyes blinked rapidly as she let those words sink in to her. She felt her body grow cold and all the alcohol in her system had seemed to wash away. A small sound of shock escaped her mouth.

She looked at Jacques face that wore a look of anxiety.

Then she looked over to the king who had a proud grin in his face.

Turning to the side, she searched and saw Erwin's shocked expression.

Then finally, everyone seemed to disappear from her view and right in the center she saw him, her eyes looked at Levi who looked back at her with an unreadable expression.

For years, she had always longed for time to pause for her and it never granted it to her, but now, the world seemed fond of playing tricks on her because right now, Hallinor felt that the whole world had just stopped.


End file.
